Living Arrangements
by son-goku5
Summary: El and her roommates need a fifth to fill an empty room and Mike needs a new place to stay. A Mileven story, with the other characters showing up as well. Rated M for language and future smut ;) Chapter 16 up.
1. Chapter 1

**While writing my other story, I got to thinking how it would be if the guys had separated for college and Mike had somewhat distanced himself from the others due to time constraints.**

**Oh, and he's never met El before ^^**

**Enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and I write for my own pleasure and that of the readers.**

* * *

"Okay, this can't continue." Jane Eleanor Hopper, El to her friends, huffed, throwing down her fork into the plastic container, the object landing in the remaining peas and the thing that was supposed to be meat.

"What?" Jennifer, one of her roommates, asked.

"We can't keep eating takeout or microwave food." El clarified. "We need real food again."

"Well, if you hadn't kicked Amanda out, we might still get cooked food." Stacy, her second roommate, pointed out.

"She's right though." Max, a fiery redhead with a no bullshit attitude, and the third and last roommate, agreed. "We need some real food again. If I didn't steal an apple from work every day, I wouldn't get any nutrition."

"So, should we start handing out flyers and get some applicants in here?" Stacy suggested. "I know a few people who'd be interested."

"Oh no!" El shook her head. "Not you. You have terrible taste in roommates."

"What are you talking about?" Stacy asked. "Amanda was great."

"The only good thing about Amanda was her infrequent cooking." El stated. "Need I remind you that she constantly brought boyfriends here who then did drugs?"

"Shit, yeah." Max nodded, shuddering. "And your dad leading a raid into this building."

"Have you any idea how it feels when your own dad comes in because they know there are drugs in here?" El shouted, her ire rising. "So, my orders, Max is in charge of finding a roommate."

"Any special demands?" Max asked.

"Cooking, not creepy, should know that her room should be clean and that this is my house, so I make the ultimate decisions." El stated. "Okay, I gotta go to my afternoon classes now."

"Me too." Jennifer nodded, getting up as well.

"I'll come with you, I can get through the next hour in the library." Stacy agreed, also getting up.

"I'm going to try to find a roommate." Max grinned and took her phone.

El took her bag and left the house, her two roommates following her. They walked to the tram station, getting on the campus of Cañada college to take their afternoon classes. They were all studying to become nurses, but El had bigger plans, wanting to be a psychologist to help people deal with trauma, like she experienced when her mother had died from pancreatic cancer.

Her biological father had died before she was born but his best friend, Chief of Police of Palo Alto and its surrounding area, Jim Hopper had promised him to take care of Terry and his daughter, so after her mother's death, Hopper had fulfilled his promise, offering El to adopt her so she could stay in the city and not have to move to Indiana to live with her aunt Becky, not that she didn't love her aunt.

When El turned eighteen, Hopper had gifted her a single envelope, which had contained the deed to a house. She had spluttered and demanded he take it back, since it was way too much as a gift but he had explained to her that the house used to to her grandmother's and the old lady had passed it on to El, to be given to her on her eighteenth birthday.

At first, she hadn't even known what to do with the house. It was way too big for her alone and it was strangely shaped, a large living room in the center and several hallways leading to five different bedrooms, a kitchen, a master bathroom and two smaller ones. It even had a basement that housed their centralized AC and a network server so every person living her could use internet whenever they wanted. She had thought about selling it to get money for college but Hopper had suggested finding some roommates who pay rent to her to support it.

And so, the girl party had been created. She had asked Max, already her best friend and two other girls in her study group if they needed a place to live and all three had agreed, Stacy even bringing another girl along, so all rooms were filled and money began pouring in. The estate her grandmother left her had been enough to pay for the basic maintenance costs and property taxes, so the girls could focus on their studies.

Of course, their fifth roommate continued to cause trouble by always finding guys to sleep with that were the bottom of the barrel, so to speak. Not one of them had not been a creep or not been a drug user, and the last one had been so bad, that her dad had led a SWAT team into her home, just to prevent them from destroying anything as they searched Amanda's room, arrested her boyfriend and found a drug stash. The only reason the rest of the group didn't go to jail was because Jim was her father.

But Amanda had been arrested as well and El had deemed it enough, throwing out her clothes and other things and putting them into storage for the girl to pick them up as soon as she got out. El just hoped that Max would find a suitable roommate for them, not another gullible girl who brought creeps home.

* * *

"Mike, we need to talk." Thomas opened up with as he entered Mike's room.

"What is it?" Mike asked, looking up from his laptop. "Will it take long, I need to get to campus in a few minutes."

"Me and Mia are going to move in together?" Thomas told him.

"Congratulations." Mike nodded. "She's good for you."

"Thanks."

"But she's moving in here?" Mike wondered, looking at the small apartment. "Don't you think it's gonna be too full here?"

"Uh, no." Thomas shook his head. "I'm moving out of here."

"Wait, what will happen to the apartment?" Mike wanted to know. "It's in your name."

"That's the other thing." Thomas hesitated. "Mister Brenner put a claim on it, says he needs it for his own needs."

"Yeah, right." Mike rolled his eyes. "He wants the rent contract to end so he can rent it out to a new tenant who'll then have to pay way more."

"Unless you can get him to admit that on tape, there's no leverage to stop him, especially since I'm the one leaving and as you said, my name is on the lease." Thomas sighed. "And he wants us to be out at the end of the week."

"But where will I live?" Mike asked. "Have you any idea how hard it is to find a good place close to Stanford?"

"Mike, you made a lot of money with your book, shouldn't affordability of a new place the least of your worries?" Thomas wondered.

"Most of my money is in investments, I can't get it easily." Mike sighed. "And you know the other reason."

"I know." Thomas nodded and patted Mike's shoulder.

Thomas felt bad for his friend. Mike was a truly terrific guy, smart as a whip, eloquent with his words, a great friend and one hell of a writer. But he also needed companionship, the knowledge that someone was there that he could talk to. Mike nodded to himself, packing up his laptop and putting it in his bag before getting up.

"Thanks for letting me know." Mike said. "I'll try to find a new place after class."

"Mike, you can always call me if you need to talk." Thomas offered.

"Thanks, buddy." Mike smiled sadly and left.

* * *

Max entered Stanford campus, deciding to put their first round of flyers here and not at their own college. Usually, students at this particular college were a little more highbrow and less inclined to bring drug using boyfriends home. Lucas was going to meet her here so he could keep her company while she brought flyers to other colleges in the area. She walked into the first building and found the bulletin board, hanging up their flyer.

Just as she was moving away, she noticed a tall, dark-haired guy coming into the building who went to the bulletin board and looked at the flyer before ripping it off and taking out his phone. She watched him dial and then her phone rang, making his head snap around to look at her while she grinned at him and showed him her phone.

"This is Max speaking." she laughed, seeing his still surprised expression and she refused the call to stop the ringing.

"Hey, my name is Mike." Mike played along, taking a liking to the redhead, wondering if he knew her from somewhere. "I was calling about the ad."

"Sorry buddy, but we're a quartet of girls so our new roommate should be one as well..." she began and watched his face fall. "Wait a second."

"What?" Mike perked back up.

"Are you a creep?" she asked.

"No." he looked at her confused.

"Do you use drugs or drink huge amounts of alcohol?"

"No to the drugs and I enjoy the occasional beer." he said. "Never intend to get wasted though."

"Are you clean?"

"I shower daily, if that's what you mean." he was still confused.

"I mean, do you know what a vacuum is for and can you use one in your room." Max smiled.

"Of course." Mike nodded.

"Can you cook?"

"Yes, I can cook." Mike nodded again, priding himself on having learned a lot of cooking as a kid from his mother.

"Welcome, roomy." Max sniffed theatrically and went to hug him.

"Wait a second." Mike suddenly gasped and held her at arms length, realizing where he had seen her. "Maxine?"

"Nobody calls me Maxine!" Max gasped as well. "Do I know you?"

"You should." Mike laughed. "It's me, Mike. Mike Wheeler?"

"What the...?" Max started to remember his face.

"Lucas's friend." he winked at her.

"Damn, Mike!" Max finally remembered, feeling embarrassed that she had not recognized him immediately. "I have three questions for you."

"Shoot."

"When did you grow so tall? When did you stop straightening your hair? And where have you been?"

"One, I had a growth spurt in my senior year but you already know I was tall, I stopped combing it when a girl told me she liked my hair when it was curly and I was pretty busy with my studies." Mike answered all her questions. "Am I still in?"

"You had me at 'yes, I can cook'." Max grinned. "Okay, give me your phone number."

"Here you go." Max gave her his phone and Max put her number into his contacts before calling him so he could get hers. "Do you have a few minutes? Lucas will be here soon and I'm sure he'll be happy to see you again."

"Did I hear my name?" her chocolate sweetheart put his hands on her shoulders, squeezing them gently before he looked at Mike. "Hey."

"Hey." the guy smiled at him, Lucas wondering why but suddenly his mind told him that he knew that guy, though he was unable to pin it down.

"Lucas!" Max pointed to Mike.

"What?" Lucas asked, still trying to figure out where he knew the guy from.

"Stalker." Mike chuckled.

"Oh my god!" Lucas shrieked a girly scream. "Paladin!"

"Man, how have you been?" Mike asked, hugging his childhood friend.

"Mike Wheeler, as I live and breath." Lucas laughed. "Haven't seen you in almost two years. Barely recognized you with the hair."

"Yeah, I was pretty busy with my studies." Mike waved his arms around. "Add to that the stress of making money and my time was pretty limited."

"I can believe that." Lucas nodded. "My first year in police academy, I was pretty burned out after training as well."

"Believe it." Max nodded. "I had to do most things myself in bed."

"I never complained." Lucas shrugged.

"I bet you didn't." Mike chuckled, looking at the redhead, thinking that there were a lot of things worse than having Max Mayfield on top.

"Perv." Max shook her head playfully.

"Guys, I'd love to talk a bit more but I really have to get to class." Mike said. "Max, when should I come over to look at the room?"

"If you cook a meal tonight, you can move in right away, if you want." Max told him with a smile. "I'm going to be home all day, don't have classes today."

"My class ends at three and I don't have much to pack anyway." Mike shrugged. "I don't have any furniture, so it's mostly clothes."

"Need some help?" Lucas offered.

"No, thanks for the offer though." Mike shook his head. "It's only a few suitcases and I have a car."

"Alright." Lucas nodded. "Dude, we totally need to meet. Dustin and Will will be thrilled."

"I thought Will went to NYU." Mike said. "And last I knew, Dustin was at Northeastern."

"Yeah, Will transferred six months ago, and Dustin quickly followed when he heard that we were all here." Lucas nodded. "Though I think with Dustin, it helped that his girlfriend dumped him in the most humiliating way."

"Ouch." Mike winced. "I would love to hear more about that, but I really need to go. Lucas, once I'm settled in, we'll meet. Max, can you give him my number please?"

"Will do, bye Mike." Max waved at their friend as he hurried down the hall to get to his class.

"I can't believe it. Mike Wheeler." Lucas grinned broadly. "The party is back together, we can play Dungeons and Dragons again."

"Seriously?" Max looked at him and shook her head in exasperation. "Come on stalker, I haven't seen you in five days, the house I'm living in is currently empty and I really need a good fuck."

"Yes, mam!" Lucas smiled and followed his girlfriend out of the building.

* * *

"Yes?" a girl he didn't know opened the door.

"Hey there, I'm Mike." Mike smiled and tried to walk into the house.

"Wait, what do you think you're doing?" the girl asked him.

"Uh, did Max tell you I was coming?" Mike asked, hoping he had the correct address.

"MAX!" the girl shouted and twenty seconds later, the redhead arrived at the door.

"There you are, paladin." Max greeted her friend. "Come in."

Mike walked into the house and took off his shoes at the doormat before walking into a large living room where he put his luggage down. He saw a third girl sitting on a couch, with dark blond hair and, to his eyes, too much makeup for just sitting at home. One look around confirmed the strangeness of the house's outside shape, hallways leading away like the half of a star and two doors to the right leading what he inferred was the kitchen and the bathroom.

"Hello?" the girl on the couch looked at him strangely before eyeing the luggage. "Max, you wanna catch us up?"

"Mike, this is Jennifer and Stacy." Max introduced the girl who opened the door and the one on the couch. "Girls, this is Mike, our new roommate."

"Uh, Max, he's a guy." Stacy pointed out.

"I know." Max nodded.

"El is going to kill you." Jennifer laughed.

"El?" Mike asked.

"Jane Eleanor Hopper." Jennifer explained. "She owns this house, so maybe you shouldn't unpack yet."

"Max, why did you bring a guy?" Stacy asked.

"Because I know him and because he can cook." Max smiled.

"Roomy!" Jennifer gushed, hugging Mike. "Let me put your stuff into your new room!"

"I'll help!" Stacy offered and rushed forward to take one of the bags.

"Did you coordinate, cause Max had the same reaction." Mike laughed, liking it here already, though he wondered how living with three or even four girls will be like if he got in.

"We need food!" Jennifer stated. "Real food, food that doesn't come out of the microwave or in a plastic container brought to us by a delivery boy with an accent."

"Well, how about I start with a simple spaghetti bolognese." Mike suggested.

"Simple?" Stacy gasped. "Last time any of us tried to cook spaghetti, they ended up crunchy. And Jennifer managed to burn water."

"I did not!" Jennifer gasped.

"She did." Max confirmed.

"How do you burn water?" Mike wondered.

"By putting a pot of water on the stove, turning it on and then forgetting about it until the pot is almost melting." Stacy giggled.

"I got distracted." Jennifer argued.

"By the Bachelor." Stacy retorted.

"And then El took her TV privileges away for a week." Max laughed.

"Okay, then please stay out of the kitchen." Mike chuckled and carried his bags into the room Max was leading him to, a small but cozy chamber next to the master bedroom. "Wow, it's cool in here."

"Yes, this room is more or less the coldest when we don't have the AC running." Max nodded. "Its two windows are on the north and northeast side, so it only gets the morning sun for a short time and then not at all."

"That's fine with me." Mike nodded. "I don't sleep well when it's hot."

"I don't think anyone does." Max chuckled.

"Alright, I'll start dinner then and will take a shower when the spaghetti are cooking." Mike said and walked into the kitchen, collecting the ingredients and pots he needed.

He filled the large pot with water and took two bags of spaghetti, breaking them into four parts inside the bag. He turned on the stove so the water could start warming up and he added a small block of butter and a bit of olive oil to avoid the butter burning into the small pan before unpacking the container of minced meat and spreading it on a wooden board.

While the butter began melting, he cut a couple of carrots into very small pieces, along with a single onion and celery. When the butter was hot enough, he poured the vegetables into the pan, stirring it and letting it fry on a small flame while preparing the tomatoes for later. He grabbed a milk carton and an opened bottle of white wine from the fridge and kept stirring the vegetables as to not burning them.

After fifteen minutes, he put the meat into the larger pan and stirred both pans. When the meat had fried long enough to start to caramelize, he added a shot of white wine to the pan so no piece of meat stuck to the pan and then he poured in a pint of milk, watching it hug the meat and knowing that it would create the mild taste that his sauce was known for. At least known to Thomas, since he hadn't cooked for anyone else since he moved to California.

When the concoction began boiling, he added the tomatoes, stirring them in before pouring the contents of the other pan into the large one, creating the sauce. He quickly stirred more, mixing both liquids and watching the vegetables mix with the meat. He lowered the heat even more and grabbed a glove of garlic and as he minced it into almost a paste and poured it in for the special kick, he wondered why these girls had all these ingredients on hand if they never cooked for themselves.

When the water in the pot boiled, he poured the two bags of spaghetti into it, stirring it and waiting two minutes until they were soft enough that they all fitted into the pot. He put the lid on the pot, keeping it askew to allow some the heat to escape and turned the heat down to less than half, then turned the sauce to the lowest setting possible and then walked out of the kitchen and into his new room where he grabbed a change of clothes and his toiletries before going into the large bathroom next to the kitchen.

His eyes bulged out when he saw the room. A large bathtub, large enough even for him to stretch out, dominated the left side, a shower stall right next to it and the toilet itself under the small window. To the right were rows upon rows of towels, their arrangement clearly separated by person and he hanged his over the bathtub to use it after his shower, taking a foot towel and placing it on the floor.

He stepped into the shower and let the water run over his body, breathing a sigh of relief. He just hoped he would be allowed to stay.

* * *

"Ugh, why doesn't the world die!" El shouted when she came into the house, slamming the door and flopping down on the couch. "Anyone home?"

"We're here." Max snickered and El looked around to find her three roommates sitting around the dinner table. "What's up with you?"

"Andrew happened." El cursed.

"Again?" Stacy sighed. "What did he do this time?"

"He approached me after the last class and asked me out, again." El groaned. "And after I told him, for the millionth time that there's no chance in hell that I will ever go out with him, he has the nerve to smack me on the ass and say that I should be lucky that he's interested in me."

"Did you break another bone of his again?" Jennifer chuckled.

"No, but he will feel some pain in his pinkie finger for a while." El started chuckling again. "That creep. He just wants to get into my pants."

"Of course he does and he's not the only one." Stacy said. "And don't you think it's time you let someone into your pants? Girl, you're turning twenty-two this year, how long do you want to stay a virgin?"

"Until I meet the right guy." El argued. "I'm not like you, I want to find the perfect man and keep him forever. I'm not one to go through samples." she added, using air-quotes for the last two words.

"Just keep looking." Max trod out her usual platitude.

"How's the roommate search going?" El asked and stood up to stretch herself.

"Pretty good." Max grinned.

"Good, remember, we need one who can cook." El nodded and walked towards the bathroom.

"NO, DON'T GO..." her friends began to shout but she had already opened the door to see a naked god standing in front of her. "...in there." Max added in a whisper voice.

El was transfixed by what she was seeing. Long legs held up a lean body, a very well-shaped cock hanging between those and visible abs speaking of a trained person. The chest was hairless and the face was hidden behind a towel, two big hands rubbing the other end of the fabric over his hair to dry it. Before he could finish, El found her legs again, exiting the bathroom and quietly closing the door before stomping over to her friends.

"What the hell?!" she yelled. "Why is there a guy in the master bathroom? You know the rules! The master bathroom is only for those of us living here, boyfriends or other guests have to use the other bathrooms!"

"Actually..." Max giggled.

"You didn't?!" El gasped, when she discerned Max's grin. "Max, he's a guy!"

"I noticed." Max nodded, keeping calm while Stacy and Jennifer could barely keep their laughter inside. "Relax, you'll like him. I know him."

"Know him from where?" El asked, doubtful.

"He's a childhood friend of Lucas." Max explained. "I was hanging the first flyer in the Stanford hall and he took it right away. I didn't even recognize him at first, since I have only seen him in old pictures of Lucas and his friends and he changed quite a bit."

"What made you think I would want a guy as a roommate?" El groaned before she noticed the plates on the table. "What's this?"

"Hi there." the guy made her jump around and she saw him exit the bathroom, his curly hair flowing from his head and clad in loose sweats and a shirt. "I'm Mike."

"I'm El." she greeted back, barely able to talk, something that didn't go unnoticed by her friends.

"Sit down, it should be done." Mike smiled warmly at her, causing butterflies to fly in her stomach, and went into the kitchen.

"What should be done?" she wondered and a minute later, he came out of the kitchen, carrying a tray with a steaming pot and a large bowl containing a mountain of spaghetti with a ladle and two spaghetti spoons resting on the side.

"So, I hope it will be to your liking." Mike smiled at the four girls and put the tray into the middle of the table before handing out the plates.

"Yeah, he can cook." Max winked at her.

"Oh my god!" El hummed when the scent of the sauce hit her nostrils.

"So, am I in the running?" Mike looked at her expectantly but was surprised when El suddenly hugged him hard.

"Welcome home, Mike!" she gushed, letting go of him again and sitting down on her chair.

Mike began putting spaghetti on everyone's plate, stopping whenever they waved and sitting down next to El, where he poured the sauce on his plate. He handed the ladle to El, who filled her plate as well and the kitchen tool went around the table until everyone had sauce on their plate. Mike rolled his first spaghetti on his fork, humming as he ate it and nodding.

"Good, none of the ingredients have gone bad." he chuckled.

"Oh my god!" El gasped when she ate her first forkful. "This is delicious!"

"Thanks." Mike smiled at her, causing more warmth in her stomach and not from the food and she noticed his freckles for the first time.

"Okay, I see onions, carrots, celery and tomatoes in the sauce." Stacy stated. "But there's another taste in here."

"Yeah, it gives the sauce this special kick." Jennifer nodded. "What is it?"

"Garlic." Mike shrugged. "I saw that you had a garlic bulb in your kitchen, so I took a glove."

"Shit, that's good." El hummed. "Where have you been all my life?"

"Lived in a small apartment with a friend of mine until he wanted to move in with his girlfriend and our landlord kicked me out." he shrugged, taking her question at face value.

"Aw, that's tough." El gave him a sympathetic smile and touched his arm, another thing that didn't go unnoticed by her friends.

"Thanks, but I think I found a new home." Mike smiled back at her. "Have I found a new home?"

"Oh, hell yes!" El laughed and sucked more spaghetti into her mouth.

"You look like you've been starving for weeks." Mike chuckled.

"You see that?" El pointed to the door, a large carton standing next to it.

"Yeah?" Mike looked confused.

"In there are dozens of empty microwave and takeout containers." El told him. "We have been living on that stuff for weeks since your predecessor had to move out."

"Why did she have to move out?" Mike wanted to know. "What did she do?"

"Actually, she was moved out by her dad and his colleagues." Max snickered.

"Oh, what does he do?"

"He's the chief of police of this city and she was arrested because her latest boyfriend used this house as a drug stash." El huffed.

"No way!" Mike laughed. "Wait, do I need to worry about breathing in when I'm in my room?"

"Yeah, there's cocaine dust floating through the air still." Stacy giggled.

"She's kidding of course. "El calmed him. "So Mike, do you have a girlfriend?"

"Smooth." Max mouthed to her with a wink, making her blush.

"No." he chuckled. "I think if I had one, she would have said something about me moving in with four women. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, there are certain rules in this house regarding partners." El deflected with the truth. "For example, the master bathroom is only for us girls and now you too, but if someone who's not living here spends the night, he or she has to use one of the other two bathrooms."

"With some rare exceptions." Max added.

"Yeah, okay." El admitted. "When her boyfriend was sick a few months ago, I allowed him to take a hot bath with medicinal herbs in it here since his apartment only has a shower. But that's pretty much the only exception I allow."

"You're a tough landlady." Mike winked at her and refilled his plate with a second helping of spaghetti and sauce.

"Seriously, where do you put that?" El gasped when she saw that his second serving was as big as the first.

"I could always eat a lot and not gain weight." Mike shrugged. "I have a pretty active metabolism. The more I eat, the more I heat up."

"What, for real?" Jennifer gaped.

"Well, I'm not turning into a human torch." Mike chuckled. "But when you touch me after a big meal, you'll feel my skin being warmer than usual."

"I bet it's great sharing a blanket with you in a cold night." El chuckled and turned her eyes downward to hide the blush from her remark.

"Does anyone else want seconds?" Mike asked once he had finished eating but nobody took any, the girls holding their stomachs filled with good food. "Alright, I'll put the rest in some tupperware boxes, so you can eat some for lunch tomorrow if you have the time."

"Thanks Mike." El called after him as he walked into the kitchen, taking the plates with him on the tray. "I like him."

"We noticed." Max smirked.

"Good job, Max." El congratulated her.

While the girls watched a movie, Mike retreated into his new room, unpacking his suitcases and bags and putting away his clothes into the closets and cabinets. Once he was finished, he sat down at his desk and began typing, trying to find the words to string together so they would end up as a chapter for his new book. Like it always happened when he began writing, he forgot the time and he startled when a finger poked his shoulder and he slammed the laptop shut in shock.

"Jesus!" Mike held his chest, seeing El standing next to him, clad in some very cute pajamas. "Something wrong?"

"No, just wanted to see why the light was still on in here." she shook her head. "Can't sleep?"

"No, just writing." he said. "I tend to forget the time when I do that. What time is it?"

"It's almost one in the morning." she chuckled.

"Fuck, I gotta go to bed, I have classes tomorrow morning." he groaned and got up, towering over her petite frame.

"Shit, you're tall." El chuckled, her eyes barely reaching his shoulder.

"Thanks for making me aware." he smiled warmly at her and pulled down his pants, revealing a pair of loose shorts before discarding his shirt as well.

"You're welcome." El swallowed hard, her heart rate going up and she quickly fled from the room and headed into hers.

As she got into bed and settled down again, she heard him toss and turn a bit, his bed bumping into the wall they shared, aware of the trouble people tended to have when they slept in a new bed for the first time. She put her hand on the wall, feeling the vibrations from his movements and she smiled warmly, wondering why that caused such strong reactions from her. It's not as if she was planning to fall for the guy, given that she barely knew anything about him.

"Night, Mike." she said, almost to herself.

"Night, El." he surprisingly replied, having heard her.

With a smile, she closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep.

* * *

**Well, this is it. Thoughts? If you don't like it, this will stay a one-shot ^^**

**Review please :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Elunas: It's because I enjoy cooking myself ;) And I hate when I read stories and it says 'He went into the kitchen and cooked a delicious meal.' Why not describe why the person doing it is considered a good cook? Also, I don't really look at the word count until I'm done writing. If you compare chapters in any story of mine, you'd see that they vary greatly in word count. Remember the 20k+ chapters in What could have been? :D**

**Exploding helmets: The oil does protect butter from burning but not forever. It's a process I learned the hard way ^^ When butter burns, you can essentially start from scratch. So, half butter and half olive oil prevents that but you need to keep it stirring. Or, just use clarified butter. **

**Winterzwiebel: No, in this fic, she's a normal woman, albeit with a no-bullshit attitude.**

**Also, I forgot to say it in last chapter's note, the story is set in modern times, so no eighties (also fixed some of her canon background, which I had accidentally put in). And I fixed some things that took me three reads to get (I hope)**

**Now, enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and I write for my own pleasure and that of the readers.**

* * *

"Morning, El." Max greeted her roommate, Jennifer and Stacy doing the same, while El only grunted as she flopped down on her chair.

"Sleep well?" Stacy grinned, El only grunting again. "Still not a morning person?"

"Blech." she barked and held her head in her hands, her eyes barely able to stay open.

"Mike's still asleep?" Jennifer looked into the direction of the hallway where his room was.

"No idea." Max shrugged. "We should start breakfast soon if we want to get to the campus on time."

"Good morning." a male voice startled them, given that it came from the front door.

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph." Stacy gasped and bit her fist, the other girls only looking confused at her before turning around to see a shirtless Mike entering the house.

"Holy crap!" Jennifer drooled. "Why can't my current boyfriend look like that."

El turned around to see what the fuss was all about and as soon as her eyes fell on their newest roommate, it felt like someone punched her in the gut. Mike was wearing tight shorts and no shirt, his hair flowing from his head and sweat running down his body. Since her eyes had been rather transfixed by his dick the first time she had seen him with less than usual clothing, El had time to appreciate his upper body more now and she liked what she was seeing.

"Did you go on a run?" Stacy asked, her eyes roaming his body as well.

"No, I did my exercise in the backyard." Mike told them. "It's always better when the air has this morning crispness."

"That's nice." Jennifer still almost drooled.

"Smooth." Max rolled her eyes, though she too was very impressed by his lithe physique.

"So, want me to cook breakfast after my shower or do you have your own ideas?" he asked, coming over to the table, which snapped El out of her gazing and feeling his body heat when he stood behind her.

"We usually eat cereal." Max shrugged. "Why?"

"I thought of making scrambled eggs and bacon, maybe some toast, if you have some." mike suggested.

"What kind of breakfasts can you make?" Stacy asked.

"French toast, Quesadillas, various fruit salads with flavor, English muffins." he shrugged. "And of course, pancakes."

"With batter from a carton?" Jennifer wanted to know.

"Only if I don't have time or ingredients to make the batter myself." Mike replied.

"I think, I'd like some scrambled eggs." Max said. "Anyone else?"

"Yeah." Stacy and Jennifer nodded, El giving only another grunt.

_What's with her_? Mike mouthed to the others.

_Not a morning person._ Jennifer mouthed back.

"I take it you're not a morning person?" Mike breathed into her ear, making her flustered.

"Blech!" she simply grunted again to his laugh.

"Well, I'll take a quick shower then and make some scrambled eggs.

"And bacon." Max called after him.

"Sure thing." he called back before the door closed.

"God, I love that guy." Jennifer laughed. "He even offers to cook for us, we don't even have to ask."

"Yeah, never let him leave, El." Max chuckled.

El could only smile at the thought, still too tired to really think straight. They heard the water going in the master bathroom and El subconsciously licked her lips, knowing how he looked naked. She shook her head out of her stupor, trying to wake up for real when the water stopped and a minute later, a semi-dried Mike appeared in the living room again, wearing only a towel around his waste and his shorts in his hands.

"I already made coffee, it's in the coffee machine." he told them.

"Why didn't you say so?!" Max shrieked and hurried past him into the kitchen.

"Do you girls go into the kitchen at all?" Mike laughed as Max reappeared, carrying a tray with five cups and the full can along with sweetener and creamer.

"Coffee." El took a cup and held it out once Max had put the tray down.

"There you go." Max said and handed her a filled cup, El simply sipping it and lifting her head in surprise.

"Oh my god." she gasped and quickly drank more of the hot liquid. "Why does it taste so much better than usual?"

"What the...?" Max had to agree when she tasted hers, without her usual sugar and cream. "HEY MIKE!"

"Yeah?" the lanky man asked as he returned, fully clothed.

"Are you freaking kidding us?" Max looked sharply at him.

"Excuse me?"

"Even your coffee tastes better than when we make it." Max pointed out.

"I put a cinnamon stick into it." he winked before walking into the kitchen to make breakfast.

"Seriously, why didn't any of us think of that?" El grunted, feeling a bit more awake now with coffee in her system. "Girls, just so you know, if any of you get problems with Mike, it's you who I'll kick out. I'll keep Mike."

"Noted." Jennifer laughed. "I'd give him a blowjob every morning if that's what it takes to keep him here."

"What?" El gasped, looking wide-eyed at her roommate.

"I'm kidding." Jennifer chuckled.

"Would be a different way to get some creamer into your coffee." Max said, causing the others to spit their coffees back into their cups.

"Ew!" Stacy gagged. "Max!"

"What?" Max laughed.

Mike could only hear shouts and laughter from the living room, smiling at the foursome out there. He still couldn't believe that he was living with four gorgeous women, one of them a, to his eyes, stunning beauty. After he set the bacon strips into the pan, he added butter into the second pan and while he waited for it to melt into a gold-brown mass, he emptied the egg carton into a bowl, scrambling the contents. He added some salt to the mix and after pouring the eggs into the pan, he cut a tomato into small pieces and added those as well.

Scrambling hard to avoid them from burning, he paused to turn the bacon and continued with the eggs until the food was done. He shut off the stove and got five plates out of the cupboard but before he could call for help, El walked into the kitchen, sniffing the air and smiling at him.

"Hey, good looking." he winked at her. "More awake now?"

"I, uh... I wanted to ask if you need help." she stammered, thrown off by his compliment.

"Can you bring the plates and cutlery to the table?" he asked her, pointing to the stack as he took another one to put the bacon on.

"Sure thing." she nodded and grabbed them.

When he was done, he took the pan and the plate with the bacon and brought both into the living room where the girls were already waiting. He put the bacon down and poured eggs on everyone's plate, taking the remainder when they all were supplied. After bringing the plate back into the kitchen, he joined them, all taking bacon to eat and dive into their eggs.

"Delicious." Jennifer hummed. "I like the tomatoes in it."

"Can I ask you guys something?" Mike looked at them and feeling a bit afraid when four heads turned to him at the same time.

"What's up, buttercup?" Max grinned.

"Why do you guys have a bread maker still sealed in its original box?" he wanted to know.

"It was a gift from my dad when I moved in here." El told him. "But since none of us can even make spaghetti without screwing them up, how would we bake bread?"

"By following the instructions on the package?" he winked at her. "Speaking of bread, is anyone home at lunch?"

"Not today." Stacy shook her head, Jennifer and Max as well. "Have classes lined up today."

"I'll be home." El said. "Only have morning classes today."

"Me too." Mike nodded. "Any lunch requests? And your fridge is about to feel empty, so a grocery shop would be in order."

"If you have time, we can go together, since you have a car." El said.

"Sure, you girls should make a list before you head out with stuff you need." Mike told them.

"Will do." Max nodded. "But we don't really have special requests anyway, we usually buy stuff that we need for ourselves on our own."

"Yeah, the grocery shop is for stuff we all need, like food and toilet paper and so on." Jennifer nodded. "The only thing we add to the lists is our preference for bath soap or shampoos."

"Alright." he said and got up. "Can any of you do the dishes? I gotta leave in a few minutes, I have to go to the library before my first class."

"Sure, I'll do it." El nodded and helped him clear the table.

"Thanks." Mike smiled at her and went to his room to grab his stuff. "See you girls later."

"Bye Mike." the girls shouted in unison and watched him leave.

"Really good job, Max." Stacy winked at their redheaded friend.

"Yep, I found him." she basked in their gratitude.

"Alright, list time." El proclaimed after finishing with the dishes. "What do we need?"

"Shampoos, lotions, bread, tomatoes, cucumbers, some meat." El listed, writing everything down.

"Tampons." Stacy said, El writing that down too.

"Poor Mike, having to buy tampons." Max laughed.

"I'll be with him." El chuckled too. "Though we might get strange looks when we buy them in bulk. And we may wanna refill our birth control prescriptions."

"Yeah, can you pick them up from the drug store?" Max asked. "Don't forget to take our letters of empowerment with you."

"Don't worry, I'll remember." El nodded.

"Snacks, water, juice." Jennifer added to the list.

"Razor blades." Max told them. "We're running out."

"Again? Jesus, how often do you shave your legs?" Stacy looked at Max.

"Not for the legs." Max smirked. "Lucas likes it smooth."

"You may wanna think wax." Jennifer suggested.

"Oh hell no." Max shook her head. "Way too painful."

"Yeah." El agreed.

They spent the next twenty minutes filling their list with stuff to buy. El thought that it was a good thing Mike had a car, otherwise carrying all that stuff home would have been impossible unless all of them went shopping together.

* * *

"Is this everything?" Mike asked, pushing the overflowing shopping cart forward.

"Yeah, at least from this store." El nodded, crossing out the last item on the list. "We have to stop at the drugstore on our way home. God, we're going to need a dozen bags."

"No, we don't, I have folding baskets in my car." he shook his head.

"Cool." she smiled at him and gently squeezed his hip, just because she felt to.

It took them almost ten minutes before the cashier had pulled all the items over the scanner, El wincing at the price they had to pay. As happened every time they went shopping, the total came in the three digit range before the decimal, El handing over her debit card to pay for it. Mike had put everything back into the cart and pushed it out of the store to his car, El hot on his heels. When he opened the trunk to take the folding baskets out, El was surprised at what she saw in there.

"You play guitar?"

"Yeah, I totally forgot to get that out of my car." he chuckled and unfolded the first basket.

The packing of the groceries was kinda like playing a game of Tetris, adding things next to and on top of each other and trying to make them fit as snugly as possible so they could get the most into a basket. The three baskets he had were quickly filled and placed before the guitar case, the latter being shoved to the end of the trunk so they could place the bottle packs next to the baskets.

Mike got behind the wheel and El joined him. On their way home, El made Mike stop at a drugstore on the way, Mike waiting in the car while El got whatever she needed, returning three minutes later with a small bag containing several boxes. Mike looked at her with a smile at the amount of boxes and started the car again.

"Birth control pills for me, Max and Jennifer." she shrugged.

Hearing her say that made him feel as if someone had taken an eggbeater to his stomach, though he didn't even know why. Of course she might have a boyfriend, she was way too beautiful to be single, even though he hadn't seen any boyfriend of any girl yet except Lucas. Wondering what made him feel that, since he doubted that she had any interest in him, he drove them back home, parking his car on the property and unloading the trunk, El carrying the bottles while he carried one basket after another into the kitchen, where El began putting stuff away.

"Need help?" he offered, holding the kitchen door open with one hand and she saw him holding the guitar case in the other.

"No, I got it." she shook her head. "Thanks, though."

"Alright." he shrugged and went to his room.

He booted up his laptop and opened his writing program to continue with his new book. He still had trouble making the words coalesce into the chapters he envisioned. He cursed under his breath, wondering why it was so hard for him to fill them, since the plot points were already done and the structure long finished on his digital story board. Sighing, he took the guitar out of the case and began to play a few notes, trying to get some inspiration from the music.

As El returned from the kitchen after finishing to put the groceries away, she heard him play the guitar. She smiled at the tune, feeling it soothing for her soul and she hummed with the familiar melody. Suddenly, he began singing softly and she melted at the sound, gasping at how great his singing voice was.

She stood outside his door for the entire song, her lips moving with the words he sang. She fought the urge of going in there and sit down with him just to sing, thinking that her own voice was more the wailing of a banshee and when he was finished, she returned to the living room, sitting down on the couch to watch TV.

"Has it started yet?" a breathless Jennifer asked when she rushed through the door, the other two girls right behind her, all carrying bags with takeout food.

"No, you're just in time." El grinned at her friend's eagerness.

"Nice!" Jennifer whooped and ran into the kitchen to get something to drink for herself and the others.

"To the Real Housewives." Stacy lifted her bottle.

"The Real Housewives." the other three echoed and watched as the episode started on TV.

"You girls to realize that this is all fake, right?" an appearing Mike asked them, leaning on the couch and watching the programming. "None of these conflicts are real, they're just for the camera."

"El, he has to move out again." Max gasped.

"I agree." El nodded. "Go pack your bags."

"I'm hurt." Mike held his chest.

"Seriously, leave this house right now." Stacy added.

"I'm going anyway." Mike chuckled and squeezed El's shoulder. "Reunification gaming night with the guys."

"Will you be back tonight?" El asked.

"Unlikely, we'll surely drink a few beers so I can't drive anymore." Mike shook his head. "Don't worry, you have your Chinese food for tonight and tomorrow you can eat cereal."

"And while you're there, tell Lucas I'll punish him tomorrow night for canceling tonight." Max called after him.

"Will do." Mike laughed.

"Heathen." Stacy grumbled after Mike had left. "He sins against The Real Housewives."

"Max, what's with you and Lucas?" El asked.

"Me and Lucas can spend nights together only once or twice a week, mostly on weekends and then he cancels on me to play games with the guys?" Max huffed. "I'm gonna ride him into oblivion tomorrow night."

"I don't think that he'll see it as a punishment." Jennifer laughed.

"He will once he starts begging me to allow him to come." Max smirked.

Laughing, the group dug into their food and watched the show.

* * *

"PALADIN!" a loud shout greeted him when Mike walked through the door after Lucas had let him in.

"Dustin! Will!" Mike shouted back, enveloping his friends in big hugs.

"Seriously, your hair makes you barely recognizable." Will commented.

"Why didn't you tell contact us before?" Dustin asked.

"Because when I got here, my phone broke and I couldn't save the numbers." Mike sighed. "And I had no idea you two were even here. And then I became so busy with college and making some money that I barely had time to do anything else."

"Yeah, I can understand that." Will nodded. "If I didn't have my scholarship, my job wouldn't pay even remotely enough to pay for college and cost of living."

"Tell me about it." Dustin agreed. "Luckily my mom had filled my college fund since I was a kid, so my job pays for the rest of the things I need beside tuition."

"Being in the police academy also doesn't pay well." Lucas handed everyone a beer. "Hence us three living together."

"Mike, Lucas said you're living with Max now, is that true?" Dustin asked.

"Not just Max, there are four women in the house in total." Mike said. "And the owner of the house..."

"You mean El?" Lucas asked. "What about her?"

"She's... something." Mike chuckled.

"Pretty?" Lucas grinned, seeing Mike's eyes glaze over.

"Stunning." Mike sighed. "I think she might be the most beautiful girl in the world."

"Aw, the paladin is in love." Will laughed.

"I am not!" Mike gasped.

"Guys, stop." Dustin told them. "Let Mike figure it out by himself."

"Screw you." Mike moped and took a long swig of his beer.

"Just like old times." Lucas laughed too now. "Mike does something, we call him out on it and he tells us we're idiots and we should shut up."

"Screw you too." Mike complained but could only smile.

Will had already set up the table for their Dungeons and Dragons session but told them that they would play after dinner had arrived. They had ordered pizzas, using Mike's old preferences to order for him and he was pleasantly surprised when he opened his box, seeing his favorite topping of ham and chicken.

As they ate, they all noticed that their interaction was the same as before, as if the last two years hadn't happened. Mike ate his pizza the fastest and sat down at the table, shaking out his wrist for rolling the dice and waiting for the others to join him. Dustin would lead the campaign, unlike in the past, but Mike promised them to write another campaign or two for future sessions.

They began playing, Dustin laying out the story and all of them getting into their characters. Lucas suggested that they could ask Max and maybe some of Mike's other roommates to play with them, but when Mike told them that their favorite TV shows were the Bachelor and Real Housewives, all them quickly shut that idea down to save themselves from having to suffer through a nightmare like that.

"Alright, I think we should stop here." Dustin announced when their characters were going to sleep.

"Already?" Lucas looked at the clock. "It's still early."

"It's one in the morning." Dustin deadpanned. "We still can play some video games."

"Hell yeah." Will whopped and jumped on their couch. "We can play some Left 4 Dead."

"I vote BroForce." Dustin laughed.

"BroForce sounds good." Mike nodded. "I heard it was fun."

"Alright." Will conceded and loaded up the game, handing out controllers to everyone.

For the next two hours, the guys played the game, each also drinking a few beers an eating snacks. At three-thirty, the TV screen showed only the game credits, the people in the room asleep and sprawled on their respective seats, Mike and Lucas in armchairs while Dustin and Will were on the couch, Will snuggling against Dustin in his sleep.

A few minutes after seven, Mike woke up, seeing the others still asleep. He grinned and snapped a few pictures of his cuddling friends, to use as blackmail if the need arose. He somewhat wished that Lucas was snuggling with one of the others, since a picture of him like that would be a great blackmail tool when it came to making Lucas afraid of Max's reaction to something like that.

"Dude, why are you up?" a sleepy Lucas asked him.

"My neck is killing me." Mike groaned, holding the right side of his neck which had bunched the entire time he had slept.

"Ugh, mine hurts too." Lucas agreed when he felt the pain in his neck. "I'm going to head into my own, comfortable bed."

"Me too, though mine's a short drive away." Mike chuckled.

"Damn, I need to take a few pictures of these two." Lucas laughed quietly.

"Already did that." Mike winked. "Hey, want to come with me? Max mentioned that you canceled on her yesterday for our gaming night but that you had to spend today with her?"

"That's a good idea." Lucas nodded. "Let me just grab a few things."

"Oh, and I was supposed to tell you that she wants to punish you for canceling on her in favor of playing games with your friends." Mike added. "She said you knew what that meant."

"I do." Lucas chuckled. "Oh, my poor penis."

Mike laughed and waited while Lucas packed a change of clothes, having everything else already at Max's. While they walked to his car, Lucas typed a message on his phone, sending it to the D&D group he had created in WhatsApp, telling the other two that he was going with Mike to his house to see his girlfriend. Mike got behind the wheel and began driving, his tired eyes barely able to stay open and focus on the road.

"Jesus, never again." Lucas gasped after Mike finally parked his car in front of the garage.

"What, we got here." Mike shrugged.

"Yeah, but you almost drove off the road twice and rear-ended a truck." Lucas shuddered.

"I'm tired." Mike shrugged and unlocked the door, finding the house quiet.

"Night Mike." Lucas said, feeling a bit ridiculous, given that it was already morning and light out.

"Don't make too much sound with Max." Mike chuckled. "El is a really not a morning person."

"I know." Lucas laughed. "She once almost bit my head off when I dropped a glass at six-thirty and woke her up."

Mike went into the bathroom and took off his clothes, deciding to take a quick shower to get the grit of the night off of him. Feeling refreshed but still tired, he dried himself off and simply grabbed his clothes, holding them in front of his lower body to avoid anyone seeing his private parts on his way to his room.

Unbeknownst to him, El had also woken up due to pressure on her bladder and as she left her own room, she saw Mike walking towards his, his eyes closed and his clothes held against his naked body. She took a step to the side and he simply walked past her, not even realizing that she was there and El felt heat pool in her abdomen when she saw his naked behind, almost as tight as his front was.

With a shaky breath, she went into the bathroom and did her business, returning outside where she heard a strange noise coming from Max's room. She walked quietly to her room and listened, hearing that, apparently, Lucas had come by as well, if the bumping noises of her bed and the both male and female grunting were anything to go by.

Returning to her room, her eyes stayed on the door to Mike's, wondering how it would feel if he were her boyfriend and she would be in his arms, feeling him move inside her. Would she feel better, waking up in the morning to get some sex? Or would she fall asleep better, knowing someone loved her the way she wanted to be loved?

Thinking to herself that she probably wasn't his type, she sighed and went back to bed, her tiredness quickly lulling her back to sleep.

* * *

**Thoughts?**

**There will be some short time jumps in this, I won't describe every single day in their lives ^^**

**Review please :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Winterzwiebel: what did you mean with "picture"? I wrote you a PM, but you didn't react. ^^**

**Strangerer Things: When I decide to :P**

**Enjoy this one :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and I write for my own pleasure and that of the readers.**

* * *

Mike had now been living at the house for three weeks. Three weeks he considered amazing and better than the entire two years he had shared an apartment with Thomas. While Thomas had been a great friend and roommate, living with the four girls was something else. The whole vibe was different, with their frequent squabbles that never turned to outright arguments or the way they could so passionately watch TV programming that he considered a crime against sanity.

His comfort translated into action, the words flowing through his fingers onto his laptop and he managed to write a whopping twelve chapters for his new book in two weeks, whereas it had taken him eight months to write three. He was reaching plot points and after checking his storyboard, he found that it would only take a couple more chapters to reach the end point, which he had already written and made ambiguous enough to be considered an ending or a cliffhanger, should he get the offer for another one. While he wrote, he didn't notice how the door to his room opened and his four roommates entered, sitting down on his bed and looking at him.

"Mike?" El got his attention and Mike let out a high-pitched scream, slamming his laptop shut, feeling glad that he had written a macro that would save his work before the laptop went into stand-by mode.

"Jesus!" Mike cursed. "A boy's going to get a heart attack."

"Sorry." El giggled, finding his girly scream incredibly funny and cute.

"What's going on?" Mike asked, looking his roommates. "Normally, if I found four girls in my bed, I would like where this was going but I don't think you're going to take off your clothes now."

"In your dreams, Wheeler." Max scoffed.

"Mike, we need to talk." El stated.

"Oh oh, do I have to pack my bags?" Mike worried, trying to sound jovial.

"No, no." El shook her head. "Believe me, you're the last one I'd kick out."

"You spoiled her with your cooking." Stacy accused jokingly. "She'd rather kick us out, her best friends, than you, some random guy."

"Hey, I'm definitely not random." Mike chuckled. "What's up?"

"Mike, you've been living here for three weeks now, right?" El asked.

"Yes." Mike nodded, wondering where this was going. "Am I getting more TV privileges now?"

"Quiet." El grinned. "We were wondering, what are you studying?"

"Oh, my major is in criminal psychology, but I also minor in literature." Mike told them. "I wanna help people get back on track, to return to a lawful life again."

"That's interesting." Jennifer nodded. "So, you and El study almost the same thing."

"I thought you want to become nurses?" Mike wondered. "I have seen your class overview."

"I'm switching to psychology." El said. "We could compare notes and help each other if we get stuck."

"Yes, we could." Mike nodded.

"And how do you earn money?" Max asked. "We have never seen you go out to a job."

"Oh, I have money coming in from some things I did a while ago." Mike smiled and saw their worried faces. "Absolutely nothing illegal."

"Good." El chuckled. "I would hate it if my dad came into my house again to arrest another of my roommates."

"Don't worry, I don't have a rap sheet." Mike laughed.

"Why do you always slam your laptop down, when someone gets your attention?" Jennifer wanted to know.

"Safety precaution." Mike gave part of the truth. "Other students often try to copy my work or that of others when they get stuck."

"I can see that." El accepted. "We also wanted to know if you are cooking tonight or if we should order in."

"When I got home at lunch I made stacked cabbage with meatballs." Mike said. "There's more than enough left over for all of you. Just have to cook a few potatoes."

"I'm game." Stacy nodded. "Don't know what stacked cabbage is but if Mike made, it can't be bad."

"I'm touched by your trust in my culinary skills." Mike laughed and got up to go into the kitchen where he began peeling a bunch of potatoes.

Since they had to cook for about twenty minutes, he went back to his room and reopened his laptop again. Knowing that if began writing again, he would forget time, he settled for reading the latest chapter again, fixing some typos and wrongly structured sentences. He set his watch for twenty minutes and when it beeped, he saved his work and properly shut down the laptop before returning to the kitchen.

He used a small knife to poke into the potatoes to see if they were done and he put the large container with the cabbage into the microwave. Then he shut down the stove and poured out the remaining water, shaking the pot to fluff out the potatoes before putting them onto five plates and waited for the microwave to finish, taking out the container to shift the cabbage before putting it back into the microwave for another few minutes so all of it heated evenly.

"Dinner is served." Mike acted like a butler, putting the large bowl on the table he had poured the cabbage in.

"With meatballs?" Stacy looked at him.

"Sure." Mike nodded. "Gives it flavor. And meat is always good."

"Agreed." El giggled and stabbed one of the meatballs with her fork, popping it into her mouth. "Are those from a box?"

"No, I rolled them from raw ground meat." Mike shook his head. "I like to use less salt and some different seasoning on the meat than the boxed stuff has."

"God, I'm gonna chain you to this house." El hummed. "I won't let you move out again."

"Maybe I don't want to." Mike winked at her and kept eating.

The next weeks passed in more or less of a blur. Everyone was busy with their classes and Mike regularly went to the boys to play games, sometimes even simply paying poker. He suggested that one weekend, they could meet at the girls' house to play poker, since all the girls could play too but rarely did for lack of opportunity.

As the semester finals rolled closer, the stress levels rose. Mike still cooked food but the meals became simpler in favor of speed. The girls still appreciated his work though, since it beat takeout food on any day. They also got closer, the evenings spent watching TV together or just talking everyone telling stuff from their childhoods, where even Max was interested since Mike and Lucas were best friends in their childhoods.

Nevertheless, they made a date for a poker night. El and Mike went shopping, buying drinks and snacks for the people who would attend. They would be eight people in total, the four girls, Mike, Lucas and their friends Dustin and Will. She couldn't wait to meet them, hoping to get a few juicy details from Mike's teen years he hadn't told her yet.

"Guys!" Mike greeted his friends when they walked through the door.

"Paladin!" Will and Dustin shouted, Lucas making a beeline for Max to give her a kiss.

"So, to the introductions." Mike said and pointed to the two guys the girls didn't know. "These are my friends Dustin and Will."

"Hey there." Will waved and Dustin shook everyone's hand.

"And these are Jennifer and Stacy." Mike introduced the two roommates before turning to the owner of the house. "And this is El."

"Nice to meet you, El." Will shook her hand. "Mike talks about you all the time."

"Does he now?" El smiled and looked at Mike who blushed.

"Not all the time." Mike mumbled.

"You sound funny." Stacy said to Dustin.

"It's a condition called cleidocranial dysplasia." Dustin explained. "It's a genetic disorder that delays bone growth, in my case, my front teeth until I had pulled them out surgically."

"Pulled them out in making them appear, not pulling them out as in not having teeth anymore." Will added.

"Alright, anyone wants a drink?" El asked. "Who's the designated driver?"

"Um..." Dustin hesitated.

"Uh, El." Mike gave her a gentle tick in the ribs and she was damned if he almost touched the side of her breast. "Spending the night?"

"Right!" El remembered. "You guys are staying here."

"Not me." Will said. "When we're done, I'm calling Chris and I'll spend the night with him."

"Okay." El nodded, mildly surprised that Mike's friend was gay.

"Dustin, you'll be sleeping in my bed." Jennifer said, making him gape.

"Um... what?" Dustin finally found his breath and heard two clicks.

"Oh man, that's going on the wall." Mike laughed, he and El holding their phones and having photographed Dustin's expression.

"Jennifer is sleeping in my bed, because mine is big enough for two people." El laughed as well. "You get Jennifer's, so you don't have to sleep on the couch."

"I'll give you some earplugs later." Mike winked at him.

"Why?" Dustin wondered, sitting down at the round table, Jennifer taking the chair next to him.

"Because Lucas will spend the night with Max." Jennifer winked as well.

"Why do I get the feeling that I won't like what I'm going to hear?" Dustin looked at the couple in question.

"We're not that loud." Lucas argued.

"Riiiight." Jennifer scoffed.

"Are we really?" Max asked, blushing.

"Oh yeah, fuck me hard! Pound my pussy with that black dick! Ram that thing into my tight hole!" Jennifer quoted, mimicking Max's voice. "Oh yeah, suck that thing! Ride that cock!" she added in a deeper voice to mimic Lucas.

"Oh god!" Lucas hid his face behind his hands.

"Yeah, those two words are shouted a lot as well." Jennifer nodded. "From both participants."

"Alright, I'm embarrassed." Max wanted to sink into a deep hole but sat down at the table. "You guys won't let me forget that, will you?"

"Not in a million years." El laughed and started shuffling the cards to deal the first hand as Mike placed snacks in the middle of the table and handed drinks to everyone, a tray with more drinks on it in easy reach of his long arms.

Mike would be acting as the dealer after El had finished shuffling, his longer arms making it easier for him to place the five cards into the middle of the table. El gave everyone two cards and looked at her own, Will to her left throwing in the small blind and Stacy to his left the big blind, everyone else matching it, except Lucas, who folded immediately.

She looked at her cards, trying not to react when she saw the king and queen of spades. She noticed Mike glancing at her as if to gauge her hand while Will and Stacy tapped the table twice to indicate checking, an action everyone else copied, then Mike took away the top card and put the next three into the middle of the table, showing a ten of spades, a seven of clubs and a three of hearts.

So far, El had nothing on her hand, she'd need either a nine and a jack or a jack and an ace for a straight, or even a royal flush if both were spades too, which would be best hand possible in poker. She looked at Mike who kept his expression neutral while waiting for Will to make up his mind. Will folded, Stacy as well and Dustin, Jennifer and Max raised, Mike joining. El did too.

Mike brought the turn card, a jack of diamonds. Now El was a nine or an ace away from a straight. Dustin and Jennifer folded, Max raising again and Mike calling. El decided to stay in too, hoping for the missing card and Mike dealt the river, which was the ten of clubs, looking at Max for her bet. Max stayed in, Mike even raising her. El folded, having nothing.

"So, Maxine." Mike emphasized her full name to annoy her. "Chickening out?"

"I'm gonna take your pants off, Wheeler." Max grumbled and raised again.

"That might make Lucas a little angry." Mike chuckled and matched her bet, waiting for her to show her cards.

"Three of a kind." Max said proudly, showing her seven of hearts and seven of spades.

"Not bad." Mike nodded but El could see in his confidence that his hand was better. "Four tens."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Max huffed, seeing Mike's ten of heart and ten of diamonds.

"Come to papa." Mike laughed and grabbed the chips before taking the cards to shuffle them, taking over the dealing for the rest of the game.

"So, what are everyone's plans for Summer Break?" El asked around during their fourth hand.

"We're going home." Dustin said. "Me, Will, Mike and Lucas will share two cars."

"Couldn't you share one?" El wondered.

"Not if we want to take luggage too." Mike chuckled.

"Also, I'm going to drive a bit further to spend some time with my grandparents but I'll return to Hawkins before we all come back." Lucas added.

"I'm visiting my grandparents in Van Nuys for a few weeks." Max said.

"Going to family too." Stacy said. "A month in Texas should give me a good tan."

"Vacation with family as well for me." Jennifer mentioned. "Four weeks with my folks in Vermont."

"Which means I'll be alone for how long?" El asked.

"We're planning a month too." Dustin said. "It's rare enough that we get to see our folks in person."

"Will be nice to spend one of those... special weeks without having to fear for my life." Mike chuckled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Stacy wanted to know.

"Why do you think I spend almost every night of last week with the guys and only came home late to sleep?" Mike looked at her poignantly.

"Wait, are you saying what I think you're saying?" Dustin asked.

"Yep, their mensies have synchronized." Mike nodded. "And as much fun it is to live with four gorgeous women, when all of them have their certain days of the month at the same time, I get afraid for my safety."

"We're not that bad." El huffed.

"Really?" Mike scoffed and laughed. "Remember last Saturday, when I said 'Good morning' and you almost bit my head off before slumping to the couch and complain of all the water you retained?"

"It's not that bad." El repeated, moping.

"So, can you survive a month without my cooking?" Mike grinned at her.

"If you find my decomposing skeleton with one hand on the fridge door, you'll know it's your fault." El pouted, Mike quickly grabbing his phone and photographing her.

"That looked so cute!" Mike laughed. "Your lower lip was so far out, you looked like Beavis."

"I resent that." El gasped. "I don't look anything like him."

"Yeah, you have lighter skin, more hair, a higher voice, more breasts and less penis." Mike laughed again. "Thank god." he added in a low voice but she could hear it, smiling to herself.

For the next few hours, the gang played and laughed, ate and drank. Everyone won a few hands, Mike and El sharing the most wins among them and the head-to-head was between them as well, Jennifer acting as the dealer for that. After Lucas and Max had lost all their chips, she had dragged him into her room and Dustin had groaned when they could hear the banging that accompanied their lovemaking, thanking Mike in advance for the earplugs.

"Makes me aware that I'm single again." Dustin sighed.

"What exactly happened?" Mike asked. "Lucas only told me that it happened in a humiliating way."

"You could say that." Dustin nodded. "She cheated on me with a guy who recorded their fucking without her knowledge and he posted it online. Then a friend of mine sent me a link to the video and you can guess my surprise when I saw my girlfriend in a homemade amateur porn video while she was sitting on my bed, watching TV."

"Ouch." El winced.

"Yeah, that's when I decided to transfer here." Dustin shrugged. "I just wanted to get away."

"I can understand that." Mike nodded. "Don't worry, you'll find love again."

"Excuse me for doubting the promise of someone who hasn't found love at all yet." Dustin chuckled but El could see that Mike didn't take it personally. "I mean, you would still be a virgin if you hadn't that..."

"Be quiet!" Mike gasped. "That's not something that the others should hear."

"Got it." Dustin nodded but now, El would be unable to think about anything else but that for a while.

"But you told Dustin, didn't you?" Stacy asked, equally curious.

"And me too." Will grinned, coming out of the bathroom, carrying his phone.

"Because they're my best friends."

"Chris will be here in ten minutes." Will said. "Dustin, if you want, we could give you a lift and you could come back home with us."

"Nah, I'll let you and Chris have the apartment for yourself tonight." Dustin waved him off.

"Thanks." Will smiled thankfully.

"Don't forget to clean any surface you do it on and stay out of my room." Dustin pointed a finger at him.

"Noted." Will laughed and sat down, taking his half-full bottle of beer to empty it.

"What do I have to do to make you tell me that thing?" El sat down next to Mike, grinning at him and almost sitting on his lap.

"Get me very, very drunk." Mike laughed and playfully pushed her away.

"Mike, you want glass of vodka?" El asked, getting up.

"No, thanks." Mike waved her off, chuckling. "I'm going to bed soon."

Almost ten minutes later, someone knocked on the door. El opened it to find a tanned, young man standing outside, smiling and she could clearly see that he was gay. She wasn't in any way bigoted but this one seemed to fill a lot of stereotypes that gay people had, wearing rainbow colored clothing and even a flower in his hair.

"Hey Chris." Will smiled at the man and gave him a kiss. "We have my place to ourselves tonight."

"Oh, great." Chris cooed and El could only chuckle at his nasal voice.

"Have fun and don't forget to clean up!" Dustin said when he came to the door. "Hey Chris."

"Dusty-bun." Chris grinned.

"Hey!" Dustin complained. "That name is reserved for my special someone and you're not it."

"Okay." Chris giggled, but everyone in earshot understood that he would never not use the name again.

"Bye Will, it was nice to meet you." El hugged Mike's friend.

"Will, after finals, one more D&D session before we leave, alright?" Mike clasped his shoulder.

"Definitely." Will nodded and waved at them before taking Chris' hand and both walking to his car.

"Okay, where do I sleep?" Dustin asked.

"Left hallway, the room on the end, right next to the one where all the banging is coming from." Mike pointed.

"Are they still at it or again?" Dustin groaned.

"Again." El told him. "Since they only get to do each other once a week and last week was, as Mike said, our time of the month, they always catch up on the weekends."

"Great." Dustin sighed and took the earplugs Mike handed him.

"There's a bathroom next to your room, if you want to shower, you have to do it in there." El said. "The master bathroom is only for the people living here."

"Noted." Dustin nodded. "Thanks for letting me stay. And thank you Jennifer, for letting me sleep in your bed."

"No problem." Jennifer smiled at him.

"Night, Dustin." Mike said as Dustin walked to the bathroom.

"I like him." Jennifer said.

"Me too." El nodded. "You have nice friends."

"I know." Mike smiled. "I don't like douche bags or mouth breathers."

"Who does?" El chuckled. "Except for Stacy and Jennifer."

"Hey!" Jennifer complained. "I don't like douche bags."

"Well, your boyfriends usually prove to be." El pointed out. "And Stacy is dating one right now."

"That I agree with." Jennifer nodded. "Troy's an ass."

"Well, we should get some sleep." Mike said, El giving him a funny look. "Separately."

"Just pulling your leg." El giggled. "Although, you can try to fall asleep knowing that me and Jennifer will share a bed tonight."

"You're flirty tonight." Mike pointed out, unable to hide his amusement and wrapping his arm around her waist, giving her a gentle squeeze.

"Well, she sometimes gets that way when she's tipsy." Jennifer laughed and took El's hand. "Come on, it's late, we should get some sleep."

"Night, Mike." El waved at him.

"Night, El. Night, Jennifer." Mike waved back and went into the bathroom.

* * *

"Look who's here?" Max shouted as she opened the door, being pulled into the house by their new house guest.

"Bella!" Jennifer whooped and ruffled the large dog's fur when Bella ran to her to greet her.

"You guys have a dog?" Mike asked, looking at the animal while El stood up too to pet Bella, who jumped on the armchair that El had vacated.

"No, we take her once in a while from old man Tillis, since he's in a wheelchair and his kids can't be around all the time." El shook her head.

"This will probably the last time we can take her." Max said.

"Why?" El asked.

"Haven't you heard?" Max looked sad. "Old man Tillis has died two days ago."

"Oh no!" Jennifer gasped. "Was Bella alone with a corpse all the time?"

"No, his kids are here to clear out the house so they can sell it." Max explained. "They agreed to let me take Bella so they can do it in peace but unless they find new owners, she'll have to go to the pound."

"We don't really have the time to take care of a dog full time." El sighed.

"You could, you don't have a job." Jennifer said to El.

"But Bella's not listening to me." El argued. "As much as I love her, I can't walk a dog that doesn't listen to me at all."

"I find that hard to believe." Jennifer said.

"Watch." El said and turned to the dog who was sitting on her armchair. "Bella, off the chair!"

"Wow." Jennifer chuckled when the dog didn't even look up.

"Alright, this can't stand, time for a little Cesar Milan magic to see if it works." Mike chuckled and took the leash that Jennifer had taken off.

"What are you trying to do?" El asked as Mike walked into his room, coming back with inline skates in his hands, which he put on at the door.

"Bella, come here!" Mike called and whistled loudly.

To everyone's surprise, Bella actually lifted her head and, after looking at Mike for several seconds who stared right back directly into her eyes, she jumped off the armchair and walked towards him. Mike attached the leash to her collar and took her outside, the girls running out to look what he was doing.

"Come on Bella, go!" Mike shouted and began moving his feet, Bella starting to run with him.

"What's this Cesar Milan thing he mentioned." Stacy asked.

"Don't you know?" Jennifer looked at her. "He had that show where he trained problematic dogs."

"And Mike is doing the same thing?" El wondered.

"On that show, the guy always talked about the pack principle, since dogs are descendants of wolves, so the owner should act like the alpha animal." Jennifer explained.

"Easy for Mike to do, he's built like a tree." El huffed. "Bella almost reaches my waist, she probably sees me as food."

"Nah, it's not that bad." Jennifer laughed. "But having a dog may discourage some of those guys who always hit on you."

"Don't need a dog for that." El chuckled. "I don't know. I would love to keep her as a pet but I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to control her."

"But if Mike can?" Max asked.

"But what if Mike goes home to his family, I mean he will in a few days." El looked at her. "What then? Do we want a dog that barely listens to us in our home?"

"Still, I'd like a pet and I love Bella, she's so beautiful and graceful." Stacy sighed and looked down the road to look if she could see her. "Look at that."

They stepped onto the patio, watching as Mike rolled past on his skates, a running Bella at his side. To the girls' surprise, Bella wasn't dragging him but obediently running beside him, Mike holding the leash close and not giving her the room to run further ahead. Her tongue was hanging out, the exhaustion clearly showing but Mike kept rolling down the street, turning at the end and going the other way before he stopped and took off his skates, switching them for his slippers he had carried around his neck, carrying the skates with him until he reached their property and simply let them fall behind the fence.

El smiled at him as he winked at her and kept walking, simply walking the dog. Bella sniffed at trees and peed at some spots but always returned to Mike's side. He even stopped a few times, Bella simply looking up at him and sitting down for as long as he was standing. Mike did that for almost an hour before he returned to the house, ushering the girls inside before he brought Bella in and stood with her at the door.

"Can one of you spread out a blanket in the corner?" Mike pointed to the corner where the kitchen door was. "And fill a bowl with water?"

"Sure thing." El nodded, getting a blanket and spreading it out while Jennifer went into the kitchen to fill the bowl.

"You guys have dedicated dog bowls?" Mike looked at the two bowls that Jennifer had put down, one full of water and one with dry dog food.

"Yeah, as we said, we had her for a few times." Jennifer told him.

"Is that kibble?" Mike pointed to the dry food.

"Yes, why?" Jennifer nodded.

"Throw that out!" Mike ordered aghast.

"Why?" Max asked, having heard it, the other two girls joining him.

"Because why would you feed your dog a food that is processed and less than half meat?" Mike asked. "Dogs are meat eaters."

"But we can't feed her fresh meat several times a day." El argued. "And it's not our dog."

"I'm not saying you should feed her fresh meat every day but there's dry food available that is much healthier." Mike told her. "If you want, we can go right now."

"Can't we keep her?" Stacy pleaded. "I don't want her to go to a pound."

"If she behaves, we can keep her." El nodded. "But if she doesn't, we won't have a choice."

"How about we take her with us for buying food?" Mike suggested. "We could ask those people if they're fine with us taking her and then go on to buy the dog food."

"Okay, if she behaves on the way, we can keep her." El stated. "There's a pet store two miles from here and you could maybe teach me how to handle her like you do."

"Let her drink first." Mike nodded, pointing to the dog who was slurping the clear liquid.

"Mike, how do you know so much about dog food?" Max asked.

"Like so many others, when I was a kid, I wanted a dog. My younger sister too. But my dad always told me that we couldn't take care of it and he didn't want to walk it all the time." Mike explained. "So, to show him that I could take care of one, I learned everything about dogs, how to walk them, how to train them, how long to walk certain species and more importantly, what to feed them to keep them healthy. That's when I learned that kibble and other dry dog foods are actually bad for your pet because of what else they contain."

"I get it." Max lifted her arms in surrender.

"Alright, Bella, come on, time to get you some food." Mike smiled at the dog and showed her the leash, leading her out of the house again and waiting for El to join him.

"Can I?" El asked, holding out her hand.

"Okay." Mike nodded. "Keep her leash tight, don't let her run too far forward. Keep her walking next to you and don't let her steer you until you feel that she submits to your control."

"Like this?" El started walking and looked to the dog to see if she was doing it right.

"Yes, but look straight ahead, not at her." Mike advised. "Dogs look at their owners often for guidance, so if you look at Bella, it's like asking her to guide you."

El did as he told and held tight to the leash, looking straight ahead while Mike was on her other side. For the first half mile, it was a chore, Bella straining against El's hold, which began to hurt her arm but she kept up her pull until she felt it loosen. Bella began walking alongside El, not straining against the leash anymore and also not falling back unless she sniffed at the ground to pee again. On their way, they got permission from the sons of the owner to keep her.

Another mile later, El let her arm hang down loosely, Bella not even trying to take advantage of it anymore. She couldn't believe how simple it had been to train Bella to not pull her into every direction and after another fifteen minutes, they reached the store El had mentioned. They bound Bella to a bicycle rack, El ordering her to sit, which, to her surprise, the dog even did and both walked into the store, seeing the rows of cages with small animals in it.

"Welcome." the clerk or owner approached them. "My name is Alex. What are you looking for? A nice lizard?"

"No, thank you." Mike laughed. "We need some freeze-dried dog food and some wet."

"Certainly." Alex said, leading them to the side of the store where a myriad of different foods for every animal were located and showing them a certain bag. "This one provides the most balanced diet for your pet. It contains high-quality animal protein, a blend of omega three and omega six fatty acids and being freeze-dried, it's easy to store. Just keep it in a dry environment after you open the bag."

"What's the difference between those?" El pointed to the various brands, some more expensive than others.

"I sorted them by nutritional value." Alex explained. "The one on the left has the most, sixty-five percent protein, the most right one has the lowest we have on offer, which is twenty-eight."

"I guess the more the better?" El asked.

"Yes, since dogs are carnivores, animal protein is the foundation of their diet. The more they have, the better." Alex nodded. "Can I ask what breed you own?"

"Actually, I don't even know what she is." El said after a few seconds of thinking. "She's sitting out there."

"Huh, from her shape I'd have said she's a great Dane but the head is wrong. Maybe some German Sheppard in it, maybe even some Golden Retriever." Alex mused. "Then I would recommend this brand."

"Why this one?" Mike asked, holding the bag.

"It's specifically designed for large breeds." Alex told them. "It has still the third highest protein count but it also contains the most omega three fatty acids, which helps to keep her joints healthy."

"Alright, we'll take this one." Mike nodded. "And a cup to portion the food."

"A female Dane needs about six to eight cups a day." Alex nodded, putting the cup on the table.

"We thought about feeding her once in the morning and then raw, wet dog food in the evenings. Mike said. "We don't always have time to come home at noon."

"Then you might be interested in this." Alex said and pointed to a contraption behind him.

"What's that?" El asked.

"It's an automated food dispenser." Alex smiled. "You simply put feed into the tank, which is not transparent so the dog doesn't get any ideas, and you can set the amount of food it's supposed to release and when."

"That's so cool." Mike laughed. "We'll take that too."

"Mike, it's a hundred bucks." El whispered.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it." Mike smiled at her took out his debit card while Alex scanned in the dispenser and the five bags of dog food.

"What's that thing?" Mike asked, pointing to what looked like a flat beanbag with a hole in the middle, looking almost like a frilly doughnut.

"It's a dog cushion." Alex pulled it down to hand it to him so he could feel its softness. "It's designed to be as comfortable as possible for a pet and it's essentially for every size of dog, except the dog is truly enormous, like Zeus."

"Zeus?" El asked.

"It's the largest living dog in the world, forty-four inches height at the shoulder."

"Jesus!" El gasped.

"Could we test the cushion?" Mike suggested.

"Sure." Alex nodded and handed Mike the cushion, who brought it outside to Bella, El right after him.

Mike put the cushion down and pointed to it while looking at Bella. The dog sniffed the cushion all over and took a tentative step into it, turning around several times before sitting down in it. As if evaluating if it was dangerous or something do eat, Bella laid her head down and began turning to the back, grunting as she moved her back along it like a bear scraping against a tree to scratch an itch.

"What's she doing?" El asked Alex who stood at the entrance and watched.

"She's marking it as hers." Alex smiled. "She's essentially rubbing her scent all over it."

"I'll guess we take that too." Mike laughed and ordered Bella off the cushion, handing it to Alex so he could scan that in as well before he gave it to El so she could wait outside.

"That'll be two hundred and fifty-nine dollars and ninety-three cents." Alex said and took the card from Mike, swiping it in and handing Mike the device so he could type in the pin. "I would also advise you to get a few bones for her to chew on, they provide calcium, phosphorus and other nutrients so your dog's teeth and bones stay healthy as well."

"Isn't there a butcher close by?" Mike asked.

"Yeah Miller's, on the other side of the street around the corner." Alex nodded. "If you see someone with the name tag Holger, tell him that Alex has send you, he'll give you some nice bones."

"Thank you." Mike smiled and grabbed the three bags, two containing the dog food and one the dispenser carton.

"Look what we do for you, Bella." El giggled at the dog after Mike had come out of the store, the animal waggling its tail in greeting.

El took the leash again and walked across the street, Mike right behind her with his carry-on, with El carrying the cushion on her back. El went into the butcher's shop while Mike waited outside, El returning two minutes later with several wrapped bones in another bag and fresh meat for tonight. Bella sniffed the bag but El pulled it away, leading her back to the house, the dog dutifully at her side and never trying to get to the bag again.

"Jesus, that became heavy after a while." Mike panted as they entered the house.

"What the hell did you buy?" Max asked, looking at the bags.

"Dry dog food, a dispenser so she can get food when we're on campus and a cushion for her." El told them and put the cushion on the blanket she had put out earlier, the dog immediately jumping into it to make itself comfortable.

"Does that mean we're going to keep her?" "Stacy perked up.

"Yep, I decided to allow it for now." El nodded.

"Oh, thank you!" Jennifer squealed and raced to pet Bella, who enjoyed her cushion.

El just hoped that Bella would keep behaving, especially in a few days, when everyone was leaving for summer break.

* * *

**Well, now the gang has a dog :) I modeled Bella after my own pet, which is apparently a mix of twelve different dog races but it's pretty tall (and hungry) and at a whopping ninety pounds. What is strange, my dog is best friend's with a neighbors dog. That dog is the runt of a chihuahua litter. So, my dog is essentially best friends with an animal the size of his poop...**

**Used to have a Dachshund as a child, was much easier to take care of ^^**

**Review please :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Cameron: I'm from Germany. Stacked cabbage (Schichtkraut in German) is simply cutting a head of white cabbage into pieces, setting it out on a large and high pan or pot (I use a high casserole for this) and interspersing the layers with meatballs. Then you cook around 500 ml of vegetable broth (you can use those from a glass) and add that, then cook the cabbage for at least 45 minutes and regularly shifting the cabbage so all parts get essentially steamed until they're soft. It's very tasty. I cook it for myself every few weeks**

**Also, in my other story, they didn't eat goose/goose soup (what's that anyway?) on Thanksgiving but on Christmas Eve (that's what we used to do in my family when I was a kid, these days, I usually work during lunchtime on Christmas Eve). They had turkey on Thanksgiving ^^ On both Christmas days, my family eats a goose with self-made dumplings and red cabbage. My mom always used the liquid that dripped from the goose during the oven process as the basis for the soup. Add vegetables and some soup noodles and you're good to go ^^**

**Enjoy this one :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and I write for my own pleasure and that of the readers.**

* * *

It was a dreary early summer day. A sudden downpour had started an hour ago and since Mike and El had time, they would have had to walk Bella, so to decide who had to go out into that weather, they had flipped a coin. El had lost. So, now, she was walking back to the house, her raincoat clinging to her skin since the temperature was still quite warm, even with the rain.

"Ugh." El cursed after she opened the door, leading Bella into the bathroom so she could clean her. "Why did I have to lose the coin flip."

As she took off her shoes and raincoat, she saw Mike typing furiously on his laptop sitting on his lap, his feet on the coffee table. She walked into the bathroom and mentioned for Bella to jump into the shower stall, which the dog obediently did. El turned on the faucet and cleaned Bella's underside, the dirt from the outside dropping off of her.

When El was done, Bella jumped out of the stall and did what every dog did when wet. She shook herself, water droplets splashing everywhere and with a curse, El took a washcloth and cleaned those from the bathtub, the shower stall walls, the toilet, the mirror and the tiles on the wall and floor. After washing out the cloth, she hung it up and exited the bathroom, seeing Bella walk underneath Mike's legs, brushing her back against them but Mike didn't even react, his eyes fixed on his laptop.

El walked behind him, curiosity overcoming in as to what he was doing. She and Mike had had their last finals the day before while their other three roommates still had one more the next day, so whatever he was writing, it shouldn't be college related. She walked as far away from him as possible before walking closer again from directly behind him so he wouldn't see her out of the corner of his eye and she hoped, there wasn't a reflection of her on the laptop screen.

"Oh my god!" she whispered when she read the paragraphs that were visible on the current page, the names of the characters known to her.

She quickly turned around and ran into the hallway leading to the rooms of her girlfriends.

"Emergency meeting!" she said to Stacy after opening her door.

"Why?" Stacy asked, standing up but El had already left the room.

"Emergency meeting!" she said the same thing to Max after opening that particular door.

"What?" Max looked up confused from her books and followed El and Stacy into the Jennifer's room, the latter only shrugging.

"What's going on?" Jennifer asked as she saw El lean against the closed door while Stacy and Max could only look as confused as Jennifer.

"Girls, remember The Torn Heart?" El asked them.

"You mean the bible for every girl or woman that was ever dumped by her boyfriend or husband?" Stacy chuckled and pointed to Jennifer's copy on her bookshelf. "Of course we know that."

"Why?" Jennifer looked at El. "Are there information about a sequel?"

"You could say that." El nodded, still unable to believe what she now knew. "It's being written right now!"

"How do you know?" Max gasped. "Is there a blog out there? Has someone found out who the author is?"

"Yeah, I did." El nodded. "The author is currently sitting on our couch!"

"Uh, Mike is sitting on our couch." Stacy said after opening the door and looking down the hallway before noticing El's incredulous look. "NO WAY!"

"WAY!" El shouted after closing the door again. "I came in with Bella and saw Mike in one of his writing trances. I walked behind him to see what he was doing and he wrote texts about the characters."

"Are you sure he isn't writing fanfiction?" Jennifer wondered.

"As far as I know, there's no fanfiction about that book." Max said.

"OH MY GOD!" Stacy squealed. "I can't believe this. Mike Wheeler is Marl Young?"

"If that's true, I wonder why he chose that pseudonym." Max mused and looked at the name on Jennifer's copy of the book. "Wait a second."

"What?" El asked, looking where Max was looking.

"Oh my god, it's so simple." Max gave herself a facepalm. "It's an anagram for Normal Guy."

"Weird." Stacy chuckled.

"Girls, can we just get back to the fact that the author who wrote one of the most emotional books ever is sitting on our couch?" El asked.

"I think El's ovaries just exploded." Max laughed, seeing El's expression.

"I wonder if he lets me read it if I offer him sexual favors every day." Jennifer mused.

"Don't you dare, he's mine!" El spat before realizing what she had said. "I mean..."

"El, we all know." Stacy laughed.

"Know what?" El asked, feeling lost now.

"You're in love with him." Stacy stated.

"I'm not." El tried to state but it only came out as a whisper.

"Let her figure it out." Max said. "El, as much as I love us talking about our favorite book, I really have to get back to studying."

"Me too." Stacy and Jennifer said in unison.

"Alright, I leave you alone." El nodded.

"And don't try to dry-hump him right away." Max joked.

"Shut up!" El huffed and returned to the living room, seeing Mike not writing anymore but kneeling on the floor, playing with Bella. "Hey there."

"Did you walk her yet?" Mike asked.

"Have been back for several minutes." El laughed. "Haven't you noticed that she was wet."

"She was?" Mike wondered and ran his hand along her underside. "Hey, it's still a bit moist."

"Told you." El giggled. "I had to walk her through the rain."

"Well, you lost the coin toss." Mike shrugged and smiled at her.

"You could have been a gentleman and volunteered." she retorted, enjoying the banter.

"In this weather?" he looked aghast. "Nah."

"What about my smooth skin?" El gasped. "It's now wrinkly."

"No, it's not." he laughed. "And you'd still be pretty, even as a prune."

"Pff." she scoffed. "Hey, wanna order in food?"

"And have some poor delivery boy go through this rain?" Mike gave a theatrical gasp.

"So, you have no problem having me walk through this rain but a delivery boy shouldn't?" El pouted.

"Hey, a plant needs to be watered so it can grow." he winked at her.

"Hey!" she laughed. "I'm petite."

"That you are." he chuckled and gave her a quick, affectionate hug with one arm before heading to the kitchen. "Come on Bella, time for dinner."

With an excited bark, Bella jumped up from her blanket and followed Mike into the kitchen, sitting down and waiting while Mike opened the can with dog food. He emptied the entire contents into the dog bowl and placed it on the ground next to the dry food dispenser, which he refilled while Bella ate.

El watched him work, marveling at the ease that he did things in the kitchen. A few days ago, she had watched him cook a, what he had called, simple meal and he had effortlessly worked with three different pots and pans cooking at the same time, nothing burning or becoming over- or undercooked. And the fact that he had been, like they all had, busy with studying for his finals, made it even more impressive.

"You need something?" he asked her, noticing her presence.

"No, just wanted to look." she smiled warmly, her eyes moving between him and their dog, the moment interrupted when his cellphone rang.

"Hey." he said into the speaker. "Yeah... uh hu... I thought we'd move out at seven... no, Lucas is staying with Max anyway, so he'll be here... yes, we're coming to you first so we can get moving at the same time... yeah, will do... see you Saturday."

"Who was it?" El asked.

"Dustin, he asked about our departure on Saturday."

"Are you still going to drive thirty-six hours?" El still couldn't believe it.

"Yep." he nodded. "We each drive for six hours, then change places and the other can rest. If we get too tired, we'll simply stop at a motel."

"You all are leaving me alone with her." she pouted, pointing to Bella who was finishing her bowl.

"You got this." he laughed and squeezed her shoulder as he walked past her.

El watched him as he grabbed his laptop and walked to his room. She still couldn't believe that the man who wrote her favorite book was now her roommate. And that he kept it a secret from them all. On the other hand, she could understand it since people who wanted a sequel would pester him for details about the plot. El was dying to ask too but she knew that he'd probably never tell her.

Two more days passed quickly and before she knew it, it was Saturday morning. Mike and Lucas, the latter of whom had spent another loud night in Max's room, bustled to and fro, both drinking Mike's cinnamon coffee and collecting some last minute things they didn't want to forget. Their bags were suspiciously small for a month but then again, they were visiting their parents, so they could surely do some laundry.

"Alright, you girls take care of yourselves and El, don't burn the kitchen down while I'm away." Mike chuckled at the four women still in the living room, although three of them would also leave in one or two days.

"Ha ha." El huffed. "Remember, if you find my starved body when you return, I will haunt you for the rest of your life."

"I can't think of a cuter ghost to do that." he laughed and gave her another squeeze. "But hey, if you really pass away from lack of food, I'm pretty sure Bella will take care of your corpse."

"Very funny." El grumbled and moved closer to him to whisper to him. "You are aware that my petite and tight body can only feed her for a day or two, right?"

"Give yourself some credit, at least a week." he winked.

"Pff, to think I might die a virgin." she huffed again.

"We can take care of that when I return." he returned but then stopped when he realized what he had said. "Uh... I mean..."

"Yes, what did you mean?" she smiled seductively at him.

"Um..." Mike struggled to find words.

"Mike, you ready?" Lucas asked, inadvertently saving him.

"Yeah, I am." Mike breathed a sigh of relief and turned away from El.

"This isn't over." El moped.

"Max, I'll see you in a month." Lucas said to his girlfriend who stepped into his arms. "Love you."

"Love you too, stalker." Max sighed and hugged him hard. "Call me when you've arrived, alright?"

"Will do." Lucas nodded and separated from her.

"Girls, you too have fun on your vacations." Mike spoke to all of them. "El, take care of Bella. Don't let her starve to death."

"Yeah, yeah." El waved him off.

"Bella, you be nice to her and don't eat her, I like her a lot." Mike looked pointedly at the dog, who barked and wagged her tail. "See, she won't do it."

"Oh, you speak dog now?" El laughed. "Get out of here."

"Bye, see you in a month." Mike waved at them and walked to his car, unlocking it so he and Lucas could get in.

"Boy, I wish you weren't going." El whispered to the door after closing it.

"I still can't believe it." Stacy said. "Mike Wheeler is Marl Young."

"And he's writing a new book." Jennifer almost hopped in anticipation. "We need to communicate to him that we know so he can at least tell us when it will be ready."

"Maybe he can get us free copies." Max smiled.

"Maybe we shouldn't tell him at all and simply not bother him about it." El suggested. "It might get weird for him if he knew."

"True." Stacy admitted and walked into her room to start packing for her upcoming departure.

* * *

"Wow, I've never felt more exhausted." Mike groaned when they arrived in Hawkins and parked their cars at Benny's.

"Tell me about it." Dustin agreed and stretched himself.

Even though they had planned to drive straight through by switching every six hours, after the first day, all of them were so tired that a stop at a motel had been a necessity. After arriving at three in the morning at one, they checked into a single room with two large beds, each car couple sharing one and slept until nine in the morning.

They managed the second leg of the journey in another twelve hours, arriving in Hawkins at about nine in the evening. Since their families would have eaten dinner already, they had decided to stop at Benny's, the bearded man greeting them warmly after he recognized the quartet from years before.

"So boys, what will it be?" Benny asked.

"Food!" Dustin said.

"Can you be a bit more specific?" Benny raised an amused eyebrow.

"Cooked food!" Dustin repeated.

"I'll take three chicken burgers, extra large fries and a large Sprite." Mike ordered.

"I'll have the same with some nuggets as well." Lucas said, his stomach audibly growling.

"Two fish burgers, small fries and a diet soda." Will ordered.

"I take everything on the left side." Dustin pointed to the large menu board.

"You sure about that?" Benny laughed.

"Okay, the top half of the left side." Dustin clarified. "I'm serious."

"Coming right up." Benny laughed again and put all the required patties on the grill before dunking the fries and nuggets into the fryer.

"How has life been in Hawkins?" Mike asked the cook.

"Same old, same old." Benny shrugged. "The mayor is still trying to get a mall built here but the business owners association is blocking it as much as they can."

"Aren't malls a dying business anyway since online shopping became the thing to do?" Will wondered.

"They are, that's one of the reasons they are against it." Benny nodded from his place at the grill. "The other is that a mall would take away what business they still have."

"What about you?" Dustin asked.

"I'm against it as well, for the same reasons." Benny shrugged and took the fries and nuggets out of the fryer, hanging them up so the oil could drip off. "Malls have food courts, and if one of the fast food franchises were to move into there as well, my business is done."

"And if you moved into the mall?" Mike wondered.

"I know the amount of rent that malls charge for businesses." Benny told him while he put their burgers together. "This building here is mine, so that's costs that I don't have. Moving to a mall would slowly ruin me, even if I increased my sales by fifty percent, and that would be a generous assessment."

"Thanks, Benny." Mike said as the man put their food in front of them and handed him a bill. "Keep the change."

"Thanks." Benny smiled, the others doing the same thing Mike did.

"Wow, I missed this." Dustin hummed after biting into his first burger, the other four still on his plate, along with his three bags of fries and three drinks.

"You never had a burger since you left here?" Benny chuckled, not believing a word.

"I did, but none were as good." Dustin clarified. "There's something about a real fast food cook doing it on a grill instead of what all those fast food chains do, simply reheating some freeze-dried meat that had been cooked before in a factory. It's as if I put a patty into a toaster."

"The fries taste the same though." Lucas laughed.

"I don't think any short order cook cuts fries out of potatoes." Benny reminded him. "I also don't mix the sodas or slice the salad."

"Too bad." Lucas shrugged and took another bite.

"So, what are you guys doing here?" Benny asked. "Vacation?"

"Yeah, it's summer break." Will nodded. "Visiting our parents."

"For how long?"

"A month." Lucas told him. "I'm staying for a week, then me and my family will head over to my grandparents in Toledo for a week."

"Where did you guys end up?" Benny wanted to know.

"California." Mike told him. "Close to Palo Alto."

"All of you?"

"Yeah, though I was at Northeastern before I transferred, while Will was at NYU but also went over." Dustin said. "Mike's at Stanford, as is Will now and Lucas is in the Police Academy in San Jose."

"So, what are you studying?"

"Art and art history." Will said proudly.

"Engineering." Dustin was equally proud.

"Criminal psychology is my major, literature my minor." Mike smiled.

"Though he should have made literature his major, since he's a successful author already." Dustin chuckled.

"I wrote one book." Mike shook his head in exasperation.

"Which sold somewhere like five million copies world-wide since it launched a year and a half ago." Dustin huffed. "That guy is rolling in dough."

"I'm really not." Mike denied.

"Even if you only got one dollar out of every book sale, you should be a millionaire." Will pointed out.

"Seriously guys, stop it, I'm not laying out my finances." Mike groaned.

"And this guy moves into a house with four of the most gorgeous women I have ever seen." Dustin threw up his arms, almost letting go of the burger he was holding, a piece of lettuce dropping on his head. "He could buy the house and tell them to shove off."

"I doubt El would sell it and I like living with people." Mike shrugged, thinking about one of them in particular he had started to love to live with.

"And he didn't even tell his parents that he's loaded now." Lucas added.

"Why?" Benny asked, wiping the counter.

"Because I'm not really on that good terms with them." Mike sighed. "My dad at least. I love my mom and my sisters. I even started a college fund for Holly, in case she needs it."

"What's wrong with your dad?" Benny inquired.

"He's... I don't know, call it a disconnected dad. He goes to work, comes home, falls asleep in his lay-z-boy and expects me to follow in his footsteps. Finding a boring but well-paying job, marry a woman who doesn't argue and have kids."

"And I guess that's nothing for you." Lucas said.

"What would I want with a wife who never talks back?" Mike harrumphed. "I want someone who challenges me, who makes me want to become a better person."

"I think you have found her already, you just don't know it yet." Will chuckled.

Mike had no comeback for him, Will's remark making him think about the woman he kept thinking about, the one who had allowed him into her house to live. His heart began beating faster when he thought about her coy smile, her more than cute pout and of course, her body since he was a guy after all. Despite all her sometimes flirtatious behavior towards him, he still wasn't sure how she felt about him, if he had just a case of wishful thinking or if there was more.

"Thanks, Benny." Mike said after they had finished, Dustin almost inhaling all his food.

"Good night, boys." Benny waved at them, beginning to close up once they had left.

"So, we're doing something now?" Dustin asked.

"Yeah, I'm heading home to get some sleep." Mike nodded.

"Already?" Dustin gasped. "It's still early."

"If you hadn't drank so many sodas, you wouldn't be this awake now." Will shrugged.

"Not to mention that in a few minutes, his stomach will probably start hurting from all that food he ate." Lucas added.

"You're no fun." Dustin moped. "Will, can you drop me off?"

"Of course." Will nodded. "Lucas, you wanna come with me too? Your home is on the way to mine."

"Sure, let me just get my stuff from Mike's car." Lucas nodded.

Mike helped him with his stuff and once they had placed it in Will's car, they bid each other goodbye, Mike getting into his car and driving to his parents' house. When he arrived, he found his father asleep on his usual chair while his mom greeted him warmly with a hug, his sister squealing in joy and jumping into his arms again.

He told them about his studies and how his living arrangements had changed, her mom perking up when he talked about his landlady, a knowing smile forming on her face when she listened to how he talked about her in comparison to the other women he lived with. Half an hour later, Mike went to bed, his dreams beginning to revolve around the girl who had, as his friends have already figured out, stolen his heart.

* * *

"Shit, I'm bored." El said to herself, sitting on the couch and petting Bella, who was spread out next to her and had her big head on El's leg, both staying inside to keep out of the heat.

El had never imagined that she could be so bored again. She had never been alone since letting the girls move into her house but now, everyone had gone home to see their families and only their new dog keeping her company. She looked at the animal who lazed on her leg and imagined her not being there, how even more boring it would be then. Then suddenly, her front door opened and as El jumped up greet the one person apart from those who lived here that had a key, Bella jumped off the couch as well, standing in front of El to defend her from the unknown intruder, the man stopping to walk and looking at the animal.

"Uh, honey, do you wanna catch me up?" Jim asked, seeing the growling dog.

"Daddy!" El grinned, running to him and jumping into his arms before calling Bella to her. "This is Bella."

"When did you get a dog?" Jim asked, letting her go from the hug as Bella walked over.

"A few weeks ago, old man Tillis died and we took her so she wouldn't have to go to a shelter." El explained. "Hold out your hand, palm up."

"Okay." Jim nodded and did what she said, allowing Bella to sniff his hand.

"See, she likes you." El smiled as Bella rubbed the top of her head over his palm.

"She seems well trained." Jim nodded impressed.

"Yeah, we used to have her a weekend or two sometimes when Mister Tillis' kids couldn't take care of her but she was always very hard to control." El told him. "I wasn't so sure to take her completely but Mike did a very good job training her."

"And who is Mike?" Jim asked.

"Oh, he's our newest roommate." El shrugged.

"Is Mike the short form for Mikaela?" Jim looked at her.

"No, it's short for Michael I guess, if it's a short form at all." she said. "Why?"

"You have a boy living with you?" Jim was even more confused now.

"Yeah, after Amanda, I told Max to find a new roommate and she came back with Mike, much to my surprise." El nodded. "I wasn't so sure about it but Mike is an amazing cook and we were tired of eating takeout or microwave food."

"And he's behaving?" Jim was suspicious.

"Dad, if you're asking if he fucks all of us whenever he wants, then no!" El said indignant.

"Language!" Jim was surprised at her outburst.

"Dad, Mike is probably the sweetest guy I've ever met." El defended him, even though Jim wasn't really accusing him of anything. "He's kind, he's caring, he's polite and he..."

"I get it, I get it." Jim laughed at her tantrum. "It's nice that you've found someone."

"We're not together." El gasped.

"Yet." Jim winked. "So, how about I take my daughter and her new dog on a walk through the park and for some ice cream?"

"God, I'd love that." El nodded vigorously and grabbed Bella's leash.

"So, what else is new?" Jim asked. "How did you finals go?"

"Pretty well." El nodded and handed him the leash. "Here, you walk her so she gets to trust you."

"Okay." Jim accepted it.

"By the way, remember my favorite book?" El grinned.

"That heart something?" Jim guessed.

"The Torn Heart." El corrected him. "And in the year and a half that this book is out, nobody has ever seen the author in person."

"So?" Jim looked at her.

"Guess what." El giggled. "The author is my roommate."

"Are you serious?" Jim gasped. "This Mike?"

"This Mike!" El smiled. "And he's writing a second one. I read a few sentences when he was writing it on the living room couch!"

"You seem very excited." Jim chuckled.

"I do seem to be, aren't I?" El laughed. "I can't wait. If it's even half as good as the first, I'll be happy."

"And you may even get it for free." Jim laughed with her as they arrived at an ice cream stand.

She ordered one for herself and for her dad, buying a water bottle to give Bella something to drink too and they enjoyed the cool treat. They kept walking around the green area until Jim had to leave, his job making it necessary to get up early the next day. They bid their goodbyes and El returned with Bella to her house, entering it and before she headed into the bathroom, she turned on the AC, only to hear a loud clank coming from the basement.

"What the hell?" she talked to herself and opened the door to the basement, checking out the AC.

"Oh, fuuuuuck." she cursed as she saw the machine not working.

A second activation attempt resulted in another clank and then silence. Cursing, she returned upstairs and grabbed her phone, dialing the number for the company that was listed on the manual. After a short description, she was advised to disconnect the power and wait for the repairman, who they told her would only be able to come to her house in five to seven days due to most of the people working there being on vacation.

"Right, you let your guys go on vacation in the hottest summer in decades where surely no air conditioning system can fail." El cursed loudly and flopped down on the couch, feeling the heat of the day seeping through the house.

She just hoped she would survive the week until the AC was repaired.

* * *

**Alright, this is it for this one. Poor El, alone and in heat (get those dirty thoughts out of your heads, you pigs :D )**

**Review please :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**If anyone wonders, I had most of this one written already before I had posted the first chapter of this story. I just changed a few things to make it congruent with the plot that developed. Don't get used to it ^^**

**El Henderson: Thanks, someone who got it :D**

**FanGirl70349: Actually, I'm a dude ;)**

**Enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and I write for my own pleasure and that of the readers.**

* * *

"Guys, I got some bad news." Mike said into the speaker, getting his friends' attention in their group video call.

"What's wrong, Mike?" Lucas asked, his face concerned.

"I'm heading back to California." Mike sighed.

"What?" Dustin looked shocked. "Why?"

"Why? Because my dad pisses me off and I can't take it anymore." Mike almost shouted. "He managed to behave for a few hours and at our first dinner, he starts rambling about how I waste my life with what I'm studying and that I have to study what he wants me to study. And I simply don't want to be some business manager."

"And you really need to leave because of that?" Will asked.

"I can't stay here." Mike nodded. "I mean, I love my m om and my sister to death but my dad... I can't stand it one more minute to be in his presence. He even told me that if I don't switch my major to what he wants, he'll stop paying for my tuition from my college fund."

"And what did you say?" Lucas wanted to know.

"I told him that I don't need his fucking money." Mike closed his eyes to take a calming breath. "I essentially told them today that I released a book and made enough money to stay at Stanford for the rest of my life, if I wanted to. That may not be quite true, but at least it shut him up."

"So, when are you leaving?" Dustin asked, feeling sympathy for his friend.

"I'm sitting in my car right now." Mike told them. "I'm going to drive through the night and the next day, spend the night at a motel if I feel too tired to go on and then go the rest of the way."

"Be safe, Mike." Dustin sighed, feeling for his friend.

"We'll see you in a month then." Will added. "Say hello to El for us."

"And declare your love while you're at it." Lucas winked.

"Will you leave that alone?" Mike huffed. "I don't..."

"Come on, don't try to tell us you don't love her." Will interrupted, getting fed up. "I have seen you two interact, you're flirty, she's flirty, you make gooey eyes at each other and she clearly likes you more than she would just a friend."

"How do you know?" Mike asked quietly.

"Wow!" Will laughed. "Mike, for someone studying criminal psychology, you have a bad grasp of recognizing body language."

"What do you mean?"

"When we were playing poker, and you guys sat side by side, her body often leaned toward yours and she wasn't trying to see your cards." Will explained.

"And you kept giving her squeezes." Lucas added, having seen it too before they left.

"I'll think about it." Mike sighed. "Listen, I have to get going, so thanks for the advice and you guys have fun with your families."

"Thanks, Mike." Dustin said. "Please text us when you reach a motel or California, so we know you're safe."

"Will do." Mike nodded and ended the call.

He gave his childhood home one last look, seeing Holly standing in the window and looking out. He waved at her and got out of the car, enveloping her in a hug after she had run out of the car, telling her that everything would be fine and that he would talk to her later. He refrained from revealing the college fund he had set up for her to avoid her accidentally telling their dad and after a few more tears, he said goodbye and got back into his car.

He drank the single can of energy drink he got and started driving, making good time. Since it was already evening, the roads were mostly empty, especially in this part of Indiana and he managed to drive until noon the next day, having his radio blast loud music to keep himself awake and he stopped at a truck stop to get a bite to eat and take a nap for a few hours.

He got back on the road at four, driving again for another ten hours before he stopped at a motel to sleep in a real bed. It was a small motel but the room was clean and didn't have the smell of years of accumulated flatulence and sweat. He got up at six in the morning to make it the rest of the way to California in the day and, after taking a single lunch break and his stops to get gas, he managed to reach his destination just as the sky darkened.

* * *

El was suffering. Not just from boredom but also from the lack of cool air in her house. During the day, it became so hot that she was barely able to sit on her living room couch and walking Bella was a chore unless she went in the early morning. The middle of the day and even the evening was so hot, it felt as the soles of her shoes were sticking to the asphalt.

She had been alone before but she hadn't felt this bored, and that was before having a dog to keep her company. As she unglued herself from couch, her sweat making her cling to it, she wondered briefly why that was but she knew the reason of course. It was Mike. That damn Mike. The guy who had somehow wormed his way into her heart but who she was too afraid to tell because she was scared of being rejected.

She had even taken to walking around in her underwear, with as much skin open to air as possible. She even eschewed a bra, rather wearing a loose undershirt, which she tied under her breasts to have her stomach open. A slip that rode up her ass so it became almost a thong rounded out her home outfit, though it became a hassle if someone knocked on her door since it took her a minute to throw on some clothes.

During the first night without an AC, she had gone into Mike's bedroom, opting to sleep in his bed because thanks to the window positions and his ceiling fan, his room was the coolest in the house, almost ten degrees lower than the others. It was still warm but the airflow from the fan helped with that too. And his scent on the pillows calmed her even further, allowing her to fall asleep quickly until Bella woke her up in the morning.

Now it was four days after the AC had broken and she was feeling blue. She was still extremely bored, the only good time she had was during Real Housewives, which she still giggled over, although she knew that it was fake but it hadn't bothered her until Mike had mentioned it. Now she only saw the performance aspect of what these women did, especially when they argued and threw things and not the interpersonal drama they were acting out. As she was sitting in her room, about to change her sweaty shirt, she heard a voice she didn't think she would hear for another three weeks.

"I'm home!" Mike shouted and let his bags fall to the floor, hearing nothing. "Anyone here?"

"Mike?" El's voice came from her room.

"Yeah, it's me." Mike wiped his brow. "Jesus, it's hotter in here than it's outside."

"The AC is busted!" El shouted from her room. "Repairman should be coming by tomorrow!"

"Why can't that thing break in winter time." Mike groaned and was about to pick up his things again when El came out of her room.

His chin hit the floor when he saw her. She was wearing nothing but a slip and an undershirt that was like a very loose tank top. He noticed that she clearly wasn't wearing a bra, not just because there were no shoulder straps of one but also because the shirt was sweaty and it had become partially transparent and her nipples and areola stood out starkly against the light color of the fabric. She quickly closed in on and crashed against him, wrapping her arms around him and he trouble not to move his palms down to cup her ass when he hugged her back.

"I really missed you." she sighed and stepped back again. "Was really boring being alone, even with Bella around."

"Well, I'm back again." he smiled warmly down at her, El only grinning back.

"I'm gonna get me some ice." she said and turned around.

When she walked into the kitchen, he had to bite his fist to avoid himself from groaning. Her slip had ridden up on her butt, turning it almost into a thong and to his eyes, she had the most perfect ass of any girl he had ever seen, which included models and porn actresses. He had thought from the beginning that El was a beautiful woman but now, he knew that she was downright gorgeous, the most sexy thing in the world. He still couldn't believe that a girl like was single, she could have any guy she wanted.

"What's wrong?" El asked as she returned from the kitchen, sucking on a Popsicle.

"Uh, nothing." Mike snapped out of his dream state and picked up his stuff again. "I'm just bringing this into my room."

"Why are you back already anyway?" she wanted to know, though feeling more than happy that he was back as she followed him and he couldn't decide if she was doing this on purpose or was truly unaware what she was doing to him by wearing only this underwear.

"I couldn't stay with my dad a day longer." he sighed and let his bags fall next to his desk before sitting down on his bed and flopping backwards.

"Why?" she asked and stretched upwards to pull the chain to start the ceiling fan, giving him a good look at her toned stomach and even the underside of her breasts that became visible when the shirt was lifted. "Problems at home?"

"I don't know if I can call them problems." he put his forearm over his eyes. "I love my parents and my sister but... I don't know. My dad..."

"What about him?" she sat down on the bed next to him.

"Well, my dad is my dad and he has always just been my dad." he shrugged, trying to find the correct words to describe him. "But he was never really my father. I don't know if I explain that well enough."

"Are you saying he isn't your birth father?" she wondered.

"No, I'm his son." he clarified. "But my dad never showed the love you would expect a father to show his children. No pats on the back, no words of encouragement when you do bad in school, only demands of excellence that put pressure on you."

"Was it really that bad?"

"Imagine coming home with an A minus on a test and instead of congratulations, you get 'Why didn't you get an A?'. Never an 'It's okay, son.' or something like that. And these days, he's up my ass due to my choice of major and minor."

"Why?"

"He wants me to follow in his footsteps and become a business manager at a big firm because it pays well." he explained. "I want to help people in a different way, hence my major."

"Don't let him get into your head." she rubbed his arm.

"I'm just afraid that I'll turn out like him someday, you know?" he worried. "Having a beautiful wife, beautiful kids but never showing them the love and support they deserve. They think I don't know but I can see that my mother is unhappy in their marriage due to his apparent indifference. Even my sister has noticed and she's just thirteen. Have you any idea how it feels when your thirteen year old sister says to you that, quote, 'mommy and daddy will get divorced once I'm moving out'?"

"Mike, if there's one thing I've learned about you in the last few weeks, you're not anywhere close to what you describe your father to be." El smiled at him and he turned his head to the side, his nose hitting his pillow.

"Why does my pillow smell like your shampoo?" he wondered, taking a deeper whiff.

"Yeah... I slept here the last few nights." she admitted. "Your room is simply the coolest in the house. Don't worry, I'll wash the pillowcase when I do laundry the next time."

"Actually, it smells really nice." he smiled at her. "You should sleep in here every night."

"I..." she gasped, wondering how he meant his comment and her eyes locked with his.

El felt herself fall into those dark orbs. They stood out in contrast to his fair skin and his freckles, giving him an aura of vulnerability and sensitivity that stood in contrast to the athletic body she knew and the brilliant mind she had already glimpsed. Here was a man she would be willing to give her virginity to but despite the looks he gave her sometimes, she felt unsure of what he felt regarding her.

When Bella finally barked her approval at his return, demanding to be petted, her gaze snapped away from him and she quickly got up from his bed. He sat up too, kneeling down to to run his hands over Bella's head and unzip one of his bags and she was keenly aware that his head was on a level with her crotch and she became somewhat embarrassed at the realization that she was only in her underwear.

She left the room and took a deep breath, running into the bathroom to get some cold water on her face. It was still scorching hot in the house so she decided to not put on a pair of pants, given that he had already seen her like that. Twenty minutes later, he had unpacked his luggage completely and joined her in the living room, copying her decision and only wearing his shorts and nothing else to bear the heat. He even put one of his extra large towels on the couch before sitting down to avoid his sweat going onto the leather.

"You know what you need right now?" she asked and got up, placing a towel on the couch too to copy what he did.

"What?" he asked as she ran into the kitchen.

"This." she giggled and showed him the bottle of vodka and the cranberry juice, carrying two glasses in her other hand.

"Yeah, I think I could do with some." he agreed and took the glasses from her, letting her fill them.

"Cheers." she smiled and clinked her glass with his.

* * *

Several hours later, when the sky outside was dark already, the two were sitting and laughing on the couch, the empty vodka bottle between them and both sometimes drinking more cranberry juice, though both had trouble actually getting it to their mouths before some spilled. If El had sat beside herself, she would have gasped and groaned at the things her inebriated mind was telling him and a sober Mike would probably thought the same about his drunk self.

"And then Max said, 'you know what we should do? We should wax our pussies'." El laughed, more or less stinking drunk and recounting another milestone in her teen years.

"How old were you?" Mike laughed too, not quite as drunk as her because of his larger mass but also quite inebriated.

"Not even sixteen yet." El hummed.

"Did it hurt?" he wanted to know.

"Fuck yes!" El yelled and laughed again. "I thought waxing my legs was painful but when Max ripped the waxing tape off down there, I really found out what pain is."

"I never thought about waxing and I don't think I ever will." he grinned. "I only use shaving cream and a razor."

"On your legs?"

"No, my legs have hair, it helps against the cold during winter." he chuckled. "I do shave my balls and chest though."

"Jeez, how do you shave your balls?" she gasped.

"Very, very carefully." he laughed again. "You still shave your pussy?"

"Yeah." she nodded. "After I waxed it, there were several reasons I couldn't stop."

"Which were?" he was very curious now.

"The most important one, it itches like hell when it's growing back!" she grumbled. "When it happened the first time, I sat in school and had to scratch my crotch during classes."

"Did someone see you?" he laughed again.

"Only Max sometimes and she understood." El laughed with him.

"What are the other reasons?" he asked.

"For one, I think it's more hygienic." she shrugged. "No pee sticking in it or other fluids, like when I have my period."

"Ew!" he made a face, even his drunken mind finding that gross to hear.

"And the last reason is of course that I like the way it looks." she smiled and looked down before lifting one leg on the couch and turning to him to essentially spread her legs before him. "I mean look down here."

"Beautiful." his eyes glazed over when he looked between her legs, her slip still covering it.

"You see this?" she asked as she rubbed her hand over it. "No bulge. Have you seen some of the pictures in catalogs when models are in there for underwear?"

"Yes." he nodded, having seen those on numerous occasions, even when rifling through the discount ads for stores that also sold clothing.

"Let me show you an example." she said and bent over the side of the couch, involuntarily lifting her ass and giving him a good look.

"Jesus Christ!" he hissed, feeling a sense of longing to touch and kiss it and maybe do even more than that.

"Look." she showed him one page. "That bulge down there, it looks like the underwear is pressing a bush together."

"It could be her pussy lips, couldn't they?" he suggested, the very small sober part of his inebriated brain gaping at the way he talked.

"No, this bulge is way too high for that, this is hair." she said and grabbed his hand, pressing it on her covered vagina. "Feel this."

"Oh god!" he gasped, not believing what was happening.

"Feel that?" she grinned and held his hand to keep it where it was. "No bulge, nothing. Smooth."

"I like shaved pussies." he admitted, the small sober part screaming at him for revealing that to essentially his landlady.

"Why? Lots of experience?" she asked and even though he tried not to answer, the alcohol made him.

"Kind of." he shrugged. "But even though when it happened it was more than weird, it felt good when my mouth was on it."

"Ooooh, do tell." she giggled and sat on her knees, facing him directly. "Did you have lots of sexual partners?"

"Actually, I had three." he admitted. "In one night."

"What the...?" she gasped. "You dog, you. I didn't even have sex at all yet."

"It wasn't like that." he argued, his whole body feeling heated when he heard again that she was still a virgin. "It was the just before the Christmas after my eighteenth birthday and my older sister Nancy was home. My parents and my younger sister were at my aunt's and so my sister had a party with her friends. They drank way too much and began playing truth or dare."

"How old were they?" she giggled.

"At that point? They were twenty-three." he sighed. "Anyway, during their game, the dares, as was to be expected, went to 'kiss Mike for x amount of seconds' and that evening, every single woman in the house except my sister kissed me. Then, it was around one in the morning, I was in my bed and their noise kept me from sleeping and suddenly all of my sister's friends came in and I could see them stumbling from being drunk."

"What did they do?" she asked, enraptured by his tale.

"They kept giggling the entire time, and one of them pulled the covers off, while another took her clothes off. Long story short, I lost my virginity that night." he chuckled sadly and his thumb began moving on its own over her covered core.

"Wait, isn't that rape?" she gasped, though less from shock but more from the feeling she got from his thumb moving over the fabric of her slip where his hand was still on.

"You could say that." he nodded. "On the other hand, I didn't say no because at first I was too surprised that she was taking off her clothes and once she rode me, I was still surprised but was also kind of enjoying it. Though that was the strangest thing I ever experienced. While that girl, I think her name was Heather, rode my dick, the other girls watched and cheered her on. I felt like a French prince before the revolution."

"How so?" she wanted to know, never heard of that.

"Back then, when a French prince got married, and remember, they often were still like fifteen or sixteen at the time, the nobles at the court accompanied the newlywed couple into the bedroom and applauded as they lay in bed." Mike explained, his voice slurry. "Though I don't know if they stayed there as the newlywed couple had their first night."

"That would feel really weird." El chuckled. "But you said three girls in the same night?"

"Yeah, it was about an hour or so later when two of the others came in and double-teamed me." he chuckled. "Again, I didn't say no. Couldn't really. When they began undressing, my dick snapped to attention and any thought of running fled my mind. And I kinda thought, having a threesome was something I could brag about later."

"And how did that lead to you loving shaved pussies?" El wanted to know, still desperate to hear more.

"What do you think happens when a guy has a threesome with two women and both want pleasure at the same time?" he chuckled. "One can ride him but the other is pretty limited in her options."

"So she made you lick her?" El looked at him wide-eyed.

"Yep." he nodded. "And she was shaved. But when they switched places, the other one wasn't and afterwards, I had to pick a few pubic hairs from my tongue and teeth."

"Ew!" El shuddered. "That sounds... disgusting."

"It was, hence me liking shaved pussies now." he laughed, the tiny sober part of him still amazed that he was telling her this.

"Why didn't your sister stop them?" El asked.

"Probably because she was too busy being passed out on the couch." he told her. "After graduation, I left for California and never really found a girl I wanted to spend a lot of time with outside of school."

"Never found some that were your type?" she inquired, feeling warm and safe with him and not just from the alcohol, and also becoming aware that she was still holding his hand against her slip.

"I don't think I have a type." he said. "I want to find a woman who I can feel comfortable around. One who challenges me. My perfect woman would be one I would love to have around me at all times and not because being with her would make me look cool to others. I don't care about hair color or a minimum cup size or other shit like that. There's a guy in my class who only dates girls with D cups or bigger."

"Yours is a rare attitude. About you, I mean, not the D cup guy." El nodded. "I feel the same way."

"You like girls with D cups?" he looked amused.

"No, I wanna find a guy who does the same to me that you described." she laughed.

"Can you answer me one question, though?" he looked at her, his eyes still transfixing her, even with all the booze in her system.

"Sure." she agreed, swallowing hard.

"Why are you still a virgin?" he asked. "I mean, you are one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen and you could have any guy."

"As I said, I feel the same way you do when it comes to partners." she shrugged. "I don't want a boyfriend who makes me look cooler to others, I want one that makes me feel safe and comfortable. One that I would like to keep. I'm more of a one and done kind of girl. I wanna meet a guy, fall in love and stay with him for the rest of my life. Someone like you."

"That's nice." he hummed, his head flopping back on the headrest of the couch, her last three words getting lost in the haze of his drunkenness.

"Do you really think I'm beautiful?" she asked, her voice becoming almost a whisper.

"When I first saw you, I thought you were the most beautiful girl I've seen in my life." he nodded. "Just from the fact that you barely wear any makeup, you have such a natural beauty. And today, when I saw you coming out of your room wearing that, I upped my assessment to downright gorgeous and impossibly sexy."

"Mike?" she breathed, simply wanting his lips on hers now but suddenly her eyelids felt extremely heavy. "Can you...?"

"Can I what?" he turned his head to her and saw that she had fallen asleep.

Finally taking his hand away from her crotch, he smiled down at her and got up, swaying a bit thanks to the alcohol he had consumed. He went into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of juice, knowing from his sister that drinking lots of non-alcoholic, non-carbonated fluids before going to bed after consuming lots of alcohol helped with averting a hangover in the morning.

He uncapped the bottle, downing it in six large gulps and then took a second one, drinking only a sip and taking the rest to his room for later. Then he went into the bathroom to put cold water on his face and head to get his bearings and once he had dried his face, he took a bucket and filled it with a palm-width of water, so it wouldn't smell too much in case she had to vomit during the night.

After bringing the bucket, a few bottles of water, a box of hardtack and a few pain medications into her room, he came back into the living room, finding her still asleep. He smiled at this angel in human form and put his arms under her neck and knees, gently lifting her up and carrying her into her bedroom. He made sure that he didn't hit her head on anything and once he was inside, he just as gently put her into her bed, putting the thin covers over her body.

"Night El." he whispered, giving her a kiss on her forehead and leaving the light on its lowest setting so she could see the bucket if she woke up. "Sweet dreams."

Unfortunately for El, her dreams weren't sweet in the traditional sense. She kept dreaming of herself being in a room she didn't know, watching Mike in a bed and a plethora of women entering the room to have sex with him. Some of those women smirked at her and El kept shouting at them to leave him alone, not because what they did was wrong but because she felt furious at them for taking what she considered hers.

Then her eyes opened, sweat on her forehead and she wondered briefly how she got into her room when it began spinning. She was about to jump out of bed to run to the bathroom but in the low light of her lamp, she saw a bucket next to her bed and she held her head over it to vomit the contents of her stomach into it.

After several more dry heaves, she lifted her head and sat the bottles on her nightstand. Not bothering to wonder where they came from, she opened one and rinsed her mouth, spitting into the bucket and then drinking some of it. She collapsed back onto the bed and fell asleep after a few minutes, this time not dreaming anything.

* * *

"Oh god!" El groaned when she opened her eyes.

Her head was pounding, the headache from her hangover all-encompassing and blurring her vision. She noticed the bucket next to her bed, the image of her vomit mixed with water making her heave again, expelling a small amount of liquid into it. She laid back and tried to get the pounding of her head under control while knowing that it was impossible.

She turned her sweaty head to the side, noticing that her shades were drawn, keeping out the morning light. She thanked whoever did this and when she saw the bottles of water, hardtack and the two different pain medications on her night stand, she vowed that whoever did this now has earned the right to take her virginity. She lifted her upper body and noticed a piece of paper next to the bottles.

_Good morning beautiful. You fell asleep last night and I brought you to your room. Hope the bucket wasn't misplaced. Got some advil and, if your headache is too bad even for that, some stronger pain meds next to them. Only take one of those pills though. - Mike_

She smiled at his consideration and his term of endearment, quickly taking one of the stronger pills and popping it into her mouth, washing it down with a swig of water. She groaned and pulled the covers over her head, feeling her stomach roil but she knew enough that she had to eat something. Ripping open the box of hardtack, she munched on a few, swallowing them down and lying back again, taking a few deep breaths and feeling the headache recede into the background.

As soon as she felt herself able to move, she quickly got up and hurried to the bathroom, finding the house quiet. After doing her business, she washed her face with cold water, feeling a bit better but vowing never to drink again. She could barely remember the night before, she knew that she and Mike had talked while being in their underwear but at some point, her mind drew a blank.

"Good morning." a tired voice startled her when she came out of the bathroom.

"Hey." she greeted Mike, who was looking better than she felt but he was clearly a bit under the weather too as he came into the house with Bella on her leash.

"How are you feeling?" he asked as he let the dog go.

"Like shit." she admitted. "How much did we drink last night?"

"We killed at least a bottle of vodka." he shrugged, pointing to the empty glass container on the floor.

"And you let me fill my petite body with half a bottle of vodka?" she accused him, but smiling to show him that she wasn't actually blaming him.

"And lots of cranberry juice." he nodded to the other bottles. "Did the pain meds help?"

"Yes, thank you!" she nodded vigorously, regretting that immediately. "But still not completely pain free."

"Give it time." he chuckled and checked his phone. "So, breakfast?"

"I don't think I can eat right now." she groaned, sitting down on the couch.

"I'll make something that will help you." he winked at her and walked towards the kitchen. "You should take a shower."

"Are you saying that I smell?" she gasped.

"El, you stink." he chuckled and walked through the door.

"I resent that." she grinned, enjoying the banter but agreeing that he had a point when she smelled her shirt. "Jesus!"

"Told you." came from the kitchen.

"Shut up." she laughed and went into her room to grab some clean clothes.

With a new pair of underwear and some shorts and a tank top in hand, she walked into the bathroom again and stepped into the shower stall. Using a generous amount of soap, she cleaned the grit and sweat from the day before and the night off of her body and washed her hair for good measure. After drying herself off, she put on the new clothes and wrapped a second towel around her head before heading out into the living room again.

"There you are, feeling better?" Mike smiled at her, holding two plates and noticing again that she didn't wear a bra.

"Refreshed certainly, better, not so much." she mumbled and sat down at the dinner table, watching as he put the two plates down and returning to the kitchen to return with a glass containing a clear liquid, a pot of juice and two empty glasses.

"So, what do I get and why?" she asked, looking at her plate.

"Eggs, bananas and watermelon." he replied and held out the glass with the clear liquid. "But first, drink this, down it all at once."

"Okay." she nodded and threw it back, gagging from the sour taste. "Jesus, what the fuck was that?"

"Brine." he chuckled. "From a pickle jar. Sieved of course."

"Why would you make me drink that?" she shuddered.

"Because it boosts your sodium levels." he explained. "Bananas are rich in potassium, eggs contain cystine that your body needs to produce glutathione, which helps break down the toxic byproducts of metabolized alcohol and watermelons simply because they're rich in water. Everything you need to fight off the worst effects of a hangover."

"Aren't you a walking biology book." she grinned as dug into the scrambled eggs.

"Hey, you asked why." he chuckled again as the doorbell rang.

"Can you get that?" she asked him as she put the first forkful of eggs into her mouth.

"Sure." he nodded and opened the door, finding an older man with an overall standing outside. "Can I help you?"

"Good morning, I'm Harry, I'm here for the air condition." the man introduced himself.

"Yes!" El shouted and ran to the door. "Come in."

"Okay, where is it?" Harry asked, smiling at El's appearance, looking at the windows.

"It's down in the basement, it's centralized." El explained and pointed to the basement door.

"Thanks, mam." Harry nodded and quickly walked down the stairs.

"Why did he look at me that way?" she asked him.

"Touch your head." he chuckled.

"Shit!" El laughed, pulling the towel from her head.

"Is it wrong for me to say that I had hoped he would have come a few days later?" Mike looked innocently at her.

"What?" she gaped at him. "Why? Why would you want this heat in the house?"

"Because seeing you walk around in your underwear was quite a treat for my eyes." he whispered into her ear before walking into his room, leaving her breathing heavily.

"Right back at you." she whispered to herself when he had already left, thinking about him walking around in his shorts.

It took almost two hours and extensive cursing from Harry before the AC began rumbling into function again. El sank into the couch cushions, feeling the room cool down as the air began to flow through the vents. Since every other room except Mike's was empty and their vents closed, most of the cool air flowed into the living room, quickly lowering the ambient temperature from the ninety degrees it was down to the seventy-two it was supposed to be.

"Thank you so much." she smiled at Harry when he emerged from the basement.

"Just doing my job." Harry nodded and handed her two documents to sign, one for the acknowledgment that he has done his job and the other with the bill.

El signed both and got her purse, taking out the money she needed to pay the man. After the deed was done, she let him out and closed the door before skipping to the couch, jumping on it just to enjoy the cool air again.

"I see he finished the repairs." Mike chuckled when he saw El sprawled out on the couch, a grin on her face.

"Yeah, isn't it nice again?" she giggled.

"Still, you in your underwear would be worth the heat." he chuckled and sat down next to her feet, pulling them into his lap to massage them.

"Wow, that feels nice." she hummed, enjoying his touch.

"Can I ask you something?" he looked at her, still gently squeezing her skin. "It may be a bit embarrassing for you."

"Okay." she looked apprehensive, wondering what he was going for.

"You told me already that you were a virgin..." he began.

"Oh god." she groaned, putting her hands over her face. "I don't even remember that."

"You told me the day I left for Hawkins." he reminded her. "Anyway, my question is, why do you take birth control pills if you don't have sex?"

"I... it's helps against the cramps." she told him, feeling a blush come on.

"Cramps?"

"You know, for that... particular time of the month."

"Oh, I get it." he nodded. "Forget I asked."

"Hey, it's a natural process of the female body." she moped, giving him a gentle kick.

"I'll remind you that you said that should you ever comment on my morning erection." he laughed.

While he kept massaging her feet, El blushed a deep red when she thought about the things she'd rather do with his morning erection apart from commenting on it. She was about to pull her legs back to talk to him about their relationship when Bella barked loudly, holding her leash in her mouth, demanding in her own way to be walked again.

As he left with their dog, El sighed at the missed opportunity, hoping she would find the courage again to talk to him.

* * *

**Dun, dun, dun :D Aren't drunk El and Mike fun? ^^**

**Review please :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**FanGirl70349: I'm not mad. But what made you think that in the first place anyway? ^^**

**Enjoy this one too:)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and I write for my own pleasure and that of the readers.**

* * *

It has been a little more than a week since their drunken evening and since then, El had remembered a lot of it. Now, whenever she saw Mike, she blushed when it brought up the memory of that day. While she had walked around in her underwear fully knowing that he got good looks at her curves, she still couldn't believe that she had put his hand on her vagina to show him how flat it was.

She had wanted to talk to him about it, maybe turning out her feelers about how he felt about her but Mike had exiled himself inside his room, typing furiously on his laptop for hours on end and since she knew that he was in the process of writing a sequel to her favorite book, she hadn't dared disturb him.

He even had forgotten to cook, something she had accepted and had supplied him with canned food or ordered in for herself and him, even walked Bella every day, just to let him write. Right now, she was standing in the doorway to his room, watching him in one of his trances and not even trying to read the words he was writing.

But as she watched his back, she realized something momentous. She was in love with him. Probably had been for a while. The girls had been right, she needed to figure it out for herself and now that she had accepted it, she felt lighter, less stressed. But she also worried about his reaction to it. Should she simply tell him? What if he rejected her or worse, told her that he only wanted to be friends. Suddenly, he stopped typing and raised both his arms like he just won a price before taking his cellphone into his hands. El quickly closed the door until it was open only a crack to listen to his call.

"Diane?" Mike spoke into speaker, El's stomach dropping at the thought that he had a woman in his life after all. "I'm finished... Yes, I'm sending you the manuscript now... Can you send me a notification when you get it... and how long for editing?... Okay... Bye."

El breathed a sigh of relief as she hurried back to the living room. This Diane was probably working at the publisher house for his book. She sat down on the couch and turned on the TV, pretending to be interested in what was on when Mike came out of his room, looking as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"You look happy." El remarked, smiling at him.

"Finished a project of mine." he nodded and went towards the kitchen. "You got any lunch wishes for later?"

"I have a hankering for fish." she shrugged and followed him.

"Huh, we have no fish." he hummed, looking into the fridge and freezer.

"Aw, too bad." she moped. "Why didn't we buy some?"

"It wasn't on the list." he shrugged. "Lets go."

"Go where?" she asked as she followed him out of the kitchen, watching him walk into his room where he simply took off his sweatpants, revealing his boxers to her before he put on some shorts for going outside.

"Isn't there a market a few blocks from here?" he asked her.

"Right." she remembered and hurried into her room, leaving the door open.

"We can take Bella with us and make it like a long walk with her." he suggested.

"Good idea." she agreed and took off her own sweatpants and, with her back to him, took off her shirt and bra, leaving herself in a similar slip she had been wearing during the heat wave in the house.

"Good god!" Mike whispered, biting his fist again to stop himself from groaning as El threw a light sundress over her body, smoothing it out before turning around.

"What's wrong?" she saw him flustered.

"Nothing." he shook his head and turned away to go to the living room.

El grinned broadly, knowing exactly what she had done and her stomach fluttering at seeing his reaction. She had at first intended to wear some jeans shorts and a tank top when she had realized that he was watching, her choice became the sundress that she had to get almost naked for. As she walked into the living room, she saw Mike putting the leash on Bella and then he opened the door, waiting for her to grab her purse and a sunhat.

They walked a small detour to their destination to allow Bella to remain close to green surfaces as much as possible. Their dog walked loyally beside them, never dragging, never even paying much attention to other dogs. El knew from before that this was because Mike, while holding the leash, didn't put any tension on it, showing the animal that he was completely calm and in no need of defense.

Having to stop once to allow Bella to take a crap, El handed Mike a doggy bag so he could clean it up and throw it into a public trash can, with great reluctance. She grinned while he did it, seeing one of the few disadvantages of having a large dog, other than its food requirements. While they continued on their way, El suddenly heard an unexpected voice.

"El?" the call of her name made her turn around.

"Dad?" El called back, seeing her father stand in a near distance with some other people.

"How are you?" Jim asked after coming over, hugging her.

"I'm good." El hugged him back and pointed to Mike. "By the way, this is Mike."

"Ah, so you're the man who has been cooking real food for my little girl." Jim smiled at the tall man, though he himself was still a bit taller.

"Nice to meet you, sir." Mike greeted him with a strong handshake.

"Call me Jim." Jim told him and looked at the dog, petting her as Bella wagged her tail excitedly. "Hey there, girl."

"Oh, you have met her already?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, when I visited my daughter when all of you were gone." Jim nodded.

"Dad, what are you doing here, aren't you at work?" El asked.

"I am at work." Jim chuckled. "The mayor and some of the aldermen are doing an inspection tour of some construction work they ordered."

"Then don't let us disturb you." El smiled.

"Can I talk to him for a second?" Jim asked, pointing to Mike.

"Sure." El nodded and took Bella, moving a small distance away.

"Listen, if you hurt her, I will make you disappear." Jim looked threateningly at Mike.

"But, we're not even..." Mike began.

"Save it." Jim interrupted him. "I see the way you look at her and the way she looks at you. You might not be together yet but it's only a matter of time."

"Uh..." Mike didn't know what to say, turning his head to look at El who looked up and smiled at him.

"You see that?" Jim said quietly. "I've never seen my little girl smile so much at someone whenever she looked at that person."

"Oh." was the only thing Mike could say, his stomach starting to flutter. "Thank you, Jim."

"You're welcome." Jim smiled and returned to the other men.

"What did he want?" El asked after Mike's return, handing him the leash again.

"The usual." Mike chuckled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" El wondered as they began walking again.

"What do you think?" Mike winked at her. "What does a father say to a guy who lives in the same house as his daughter?"

"Got it." El laughed. "He's a teddy bear though, don't let him scare you."

"Hard to do when he can make my body disappear without a trace." Mike laughed as well.

As they continued on their way, Mike hesitated to do what the thought of doing. Jim's words echoed in his mind and he replayed the scenes from the past few days. He had been right though, whenever El had looked up at him, her face had lit up in a smile but usually, he had put it on her general friendliness and not something just for him.

While they walked, Mike let his free hand swing, slowly first and then adjusting it to El's swing so that their arms were moving at the same pace into the same direction. Slowly, he extended his pinkie finger until it brushed against the back of her hand, quickly pulling it back to make it look like an accident.

After a few more seconds, he felt El's index finger brush against his, hers also moving away again. Mike took this as a good sign and extended his index finger as well, letting it touch her hand but not moving completely away. His patience was returned when he felt her finger lace through his and, emboldened by her acceptance, he opened his hand and moved it closer to hers until El interlaced her other fingers with his, both ending up holding hands.

El, on her part, felt her heart hammer in her chest, the simple act of holding hands something that felt like a momentous step for them. She didn't dare look at him while they walked as if afraid that it would break the spell, so she kept her gaze forward while their hands were linked, Bella obediently walking on his other side, not caring for the world if her owners were starting to be more than just be roommates and friends.

"There it is." he said when they reaching the market area, lots of people bustling between the stands.

"Can we take Bella into that crowd with us?" she wondered.

"I don't see why not, I see other dogs there." he shrugged and let go of her hand to take a bag out of his pants pocket for their purchases.

"So, what do we need?" she asked, already feeling as if something was missing without her hand in his.

"I thought about making fish stew." he suggested.

"Sounds delicious." she smiled.

"So, as fish we need either cod or salmon." Mike said.

"Cod." she giggled.

"Okay, so we need fresh cod, not salted one, otherwise we'd have to soak the fish for a day to desalt it." Mike nodded. "Then we need onions, garlic, diced tomatoes, the one from the can are fine for this, then coconut milk, sour cream and tomato paste as well as a few peppers."

"Do we need all of it?"

"No, we still have some garlic at home, tomato paste as well." Mike told her. "So, besides fish, we need to buy onions, coconut milk, sour cream and a few peppers."

"There's a small grocery store over there, we can get the stuff we can't get here, like the sour cream and coconut milk." El pointed out.

"Wanna split up?" Mike asked. "You get the can of tomatoes, the milk and the cream and I peruse the offers on the market."

"Should I get fish as well?" she wanted to know.

"Um..." he hesitated and looked around, trying to find a stand that sold fish and seeing one in the distance. "If you can find unsalted cod, buy it, otherwise, we'll get it over there. I take my time around the market and buy everything else first."

"Alright, see you in a few minutes." El smiled at him and took off, walking across the street to the store.

Unbeknownst to her, when she had left the market area, a pair of eyes was watching her, the man it belonged to licking his lips. When he got partnered with her for the new semester project, he had already tried to figure out how to get that one into bed but now that he had heard from some of his buddies that this one was still a virgin, he was more than determined to get that one. Making a plan for the next day, he turned around and headed to the bar he would be meeting his friends in.

Since El hadn't seen him, her mind was still on the man she had been holding hands with. She had no idea if her father had said something to him but she wasn't complaining, feeling their relationship becoming something more, even if it was just incremental steps. She desired him, she knew that much, but she also didn't want to jump into something and give him the impression that it's all about the sex for her.

Sighing at her own overthinking, she grabbed the can of tomatoes, cream and the coconut milk and after finding no fresh cod, paid for those three items and headed back out, returning to the market stalls and trying to find Mike. Since he walked with a large dog, he was pretty easy to spot and she quickly returned to his side, keeping the bag with the groceries in her hand while he held the second one containing everything else but the fish.

They continued to stroll through the market, taking their time but neither noticed the dark clouds moving in from the west, since the sun was still partially in the east, shining down on them. Mike stood before the fish stand and looked at the offers, pointing at a particular cod and nodding when the woman behind the sales counter asked if she should gut it.

Thankfully, she disappeared behind a curtain to do that, El not knowing if she could have watched it. The process seemed to go faster than she had expected because only a minute later, the woman came back with a wrapped package, handing it to Mike and receiving the payment from him. When they began making their way back, El noticed a large part of the people beginning to move out of the market area as if fleeing from something.

"What's going on?" El asked, asking a man behind another stall.

"I guess, that." he man pointed behind them.

"Oh, shit." Mike commented the dark, menacing rain cloud.

"Oh, shit." El repeated, very aware of herself wearing nothing but a sundress and a slip.

They started a fast-paced walk back to the house, only just short of running but her short legs wouldn't get her enough speed to make it in time. They were about half-way back when the rainstorm hit, large drops hitting the concrete and asphalt below their feet. El began shivering, the sudden cold water on her skin washing away the heat of the morning and when they had finally reached their house, her teeth were chattering.

"Get into the bathroom and out of your dress, I'll get you some dry clothes." Mike said as they entered the house, Bella walking into the master bathroom herself where she shook herself.

El hurried into the bathroom herself, getting out of her wet clothes and into the shower, turning the knob and letting warm water hit her. She heard Mike open the door and put the dry clothes down before he left for another bathroom to copy what she was doing. He emerged back, cleaned and wearing dry clothing and when El came out of the master bathroom, he went in there and hanged his wet clothes and her wet sundress above the bathtub to let them dry out a bit.

"Seriously, as soon as we're home, the rain stops again." she moped. "Mike, I'm hungry."

"Got it." he laughed and went into the kitchen, El right behind him.

"Can I help?" she asked.

"You can slice the peppers." he told her. "Make sure to get the seeds out completely."

"Got it." she nodded and did as he told while he diced half an onion and minced the two garlic gloves before cutting the cod into smaller pieces.

After banning her from the cooking area, with El sitting down on the kitchen island to watch him, with her legs dangling from the sides, Mike got to work, laying out all the ingredients. He poured two spoonfuls of oil into the skillet, waiting until it was heated before adding the onion and the garlic and cooking it until it became fragrant, El's nose lifting up like Bella's when she smelled food.

Next he poured the can of diced tomatoes into the skillet and stirred it quickly. After a minute, he added the coconut milk, sour cream and tomato paste, stirring it further and cooking it for another three minutes while he collected the cod and the peppers. When the countdown was over, he added the fish and peppers, stirring it before grabbing the pepper- and salt mills, giving both two turns to add some seasoning.

El saw him taste it a taste and after flicking his head left and right as if evaluating it, he added a few red pepper flakes to add a bit of spiciness to it. He put the lid onto the skillet and turned down the heat, then washed the plates where the ingredients had been on before turning to El, smiling at her.

"Now it has to stir for about ten to twelve minutes." he explained. "You want to add some rice to it?"

"Sounds nice." she agreed.

"We could also add quinoa, but I don't think we have any and I forgot to mention it before." he mused, looking into the cupboards.

"Rice is fine." she giggled and hopped off the island, taking out the bag of rice. "But won't it take too long to cook?"

"No, it's five minute rice." he winked at her.

"Cool."

"How much do you want?" he asked, pouring his amount into a bowl with a large measuring spoon.

"One spoon will be fine." she smiled broadly, watching him wash the rice before adding enough water to cook it.

He turned on the stove to full and placed the pot on it, then opened the stew skillet and turned the cod pieces around before closing it again. He then left the kitchen to use the bathroom and El took the opportunity to take the lid of the skillet again to taste the sauce that the cod and vegetables were cooking. She moaned at the amazing taste and put the lid back on and when the cooking time for the rice and stew were done, she turned off the stove and took the rice pot from the stove to let it sit for a while. Last, she opened the cupboard and took two dinner plates out of it.

"We may wanna use bowls." Mike told her as he returned into the kitchen.

"Aren't dinner plates better to eat it?" she wondered.

"True, but I usually put the rice into the stew instead of the other way around." he said.

"Why?" she wanted to know. "You put the rice on the plate and then pour the stew over it, right?"

"Normally, yes." he nodded. "But that often leads to most of the stew staying above the rice and you have to mix it but more often than not, you end up with a spoonful or two of almost dry rice after eating all the stew."

"That's true." she remembered from the times she had eaten stews with rice with her mom.

"Food is done, let me show you." she said and grabbed the pot with the rice and the stew, pouring the latter in equal measure into the bowls. "Once the stew is in the bowl, you add the rice and stir it."

"Cool." she smiled. "Now all the rice can soak up the sauce."

"Exactly." he winked and took her bowl to bring them to the dinner table, El following with two spoons. "Bon appetit."

"Seriously, you should have moved in here years ago." she hummed as she ate, the stew tasting even better than when she had sampled it.

"Yeah, I should." he chuckled. "I like living here. And the people I live with."

"I say it again, if one of the others give you any trouble, they're out of here." she laughed and slurped more of the sauce before making a face and sneezing hard three times.

"Bless you." he looked surprised. "Are you allergic to one of the ingredients?"

"Not that I know of." she shook her head. "I hope that rainstorm didn't make me sick."

"If it did, I'll care for you." he smiled and gave her hand a squeeze.

"Thanks." El smiled right back and dug into her food again.

They spent the rest of the day watching TV together, El beginning to feel progressively worse. Her throat became scratchy and her voice hoarse and it felt as if there was pressure building up her nose. The last thing she wanted right now was a cold so she wrapped herself into a blanket while Mike took her into his arms, warming her further with his body. El melted into his embrace, wondering if they would be kissing madly right now if she weren't feeling unwell but she accepted his arms around her nonetheless.

When she used the bathroom at one point, she came back out to an empty living room, Mike in the kitchen. He came back with a large pot in his hand and an empty cup, putting both on coasters and placing them in front of her on the coffee table.

"What's that?" she asked.

"It's peppermint tea with a spoonful of honey in it." he told her and poured her a cup.

"Thanks." she smiled warmly at him and drank the hot liquid, the honey giving it a natural sweetening that also soothed her throat.

El was about to snuggle into his side again when he surprised her, lifting her by the waist and setting her down directly in his lap before he threw the blanket over both of them. El again melted into the embrace, never wanting to leave but her bladder made her do it anyway after two hours.

"You should take a hot bath." Mike suggested. "I saw some medicinal herbs in the bathroom you can put into the bathwater."

"That's a great idea." she nodded and headed into the bathroom, opening the faucet and letting the tub fill up while using the toilet.

She added some soap into the water so it was filled with bubbles before adding the herbal mixture, that gave out a sharp scent. She stepped into the tub and laid down, deeply inhaling the scent and closing her eyes, simply letting herself get soaked in the liquid. After about half an hour, she realized something she had forgotten and thought of another way to show Mike what he would get with her if they became an item.

"Mike, can you come in here please?" she shouted from the tub.

"What is it?" he called through the door after opening it just a bit.

"I forgot my pajamas, can you get them for me please?" she asked.

"Sure." he agreed and went into her bedroom, lifting the duvet from her bed and finding them, grinning at what he saw before bringing them to the bathroom, stopping outside. "Are you decent?"

"Yes, come on in." she confirmed and he opened the door, seeing her in the bathtub with bubbles covering up her intimate parts.

"There you go." he said as he put them down, smiling broadly.

"What's funny?" she wondered.

"Your pajamas." he winked.

"Hey, I like Snoopy." she pouted, referring to the motif on the bottoms.

"I think they're cute." he grinned. "And look very nice on you."

"Can you do me one more favor?" she asked and held up her loofah. "Wash my back?"

"Sure." he nodded after a brief hesitation and took the loofah.

He put it on and dunked it into the water. El leaned forward and he was barely able to suppress his groan when he saw her. When she head moved her upper body, her arm had wiped away the bubbles from the side of her chest and her breast stood out in all its glory. It wasn't that big at all, but to him, it was simply perfection.

"Everything okay?" she asked when she didn't feel the loofah on her back, not turning around.

"Yeah, yeah." he breathed out and began cleaning her back, still unable to tear his eyes away from what he was seeing.

"That feels nice." she hummed and smiled to herself, knowing what he was looking at and glad that her plan had worked.

"All done." he proclaimed, standing up and quickly stepping away from her so she couldn't see his crotch.

"Thank you." she smiled and leaned back again.

"I'm going to make you some light dinner and then you'll go to bed early, okay?" he turned around, a gaze at his crotch telling her that he had calmed down again.

"Okay." she accepted and waited until he was out before stepping out of the tub, drying herself off and putting on her pajamas and the robe he had brought in as well, humming at its softness.

"Where did you get this?" she asked after entering the living room, pointing at the robe.

"That's mine." he chuckled. "Soft, isn't it?"

"Very much so." she hummed, almost trying to sink into the robe. "No wonder it's so big."

"Here, eat this." Mike handed her a bowl with chicken soup from a packet. "Tomorrow, I'll go to the store and buy some ingredients for a real chicken soup, not this packaged stuff. And you're going to sleep in."

"Those are words I always love to hear." she chuckled and drank the soup, not even bothering with a spoon until the end to scratch the remains out of the bowl.

She thanked him and went into her room, taking off the robe and closing the shades before wrapping herself into her duvet. Once she had closed her eyes, sleep wasn't long in coming and she fell into a dreamless slumber.

* * *

The next morning, Mike got up and checked on her, seeing her sleeping soundly. Her breathing seemed to be somewhat strained, her nose apparently still closed but it sounded better than it had the day before. He gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead and left the house, taking Bella with him and walking to the grocery store, where he bound her to a fence post before going in.

He grabbed shopping basket and put in a few carrots, a celery root, some leek and parsley, a bag of soup noodles and the most important ingredient, a small frozen soup chicken. While he was here, he also took a few boxes of hardtack to replace the one that El had eaten when she had her hangover and a few bag of various teas.

After paying, he went back out and took Bella's leash again, leading the dog back home. Once there, he took the pressure cooker and dropped the chicken into it, adding water and putting it on the stove, turning it on to heat the water in advance. While the water heated up, he cut the carrots, leek and celery root into small pieces and poured them into the pot as well before picking apart the piece of parsley by hand and adding that too, along with some salt and pepper, then he closed the lid and simply let it cook.

Since it took forty-five minutes to cook once the cooker was under pressure, he went into his room and sat down at his laptop, checking his emails and thinking about plot points for a possible third book, in case his current one sold well and he got the go-ahead for another one. As was the case every time he started working on a book, time flew by and soon enough, the oven timer dinged and he went back into the kitchen to turn the stove off.

He let the steam escape until he could open the lid. After grabbing some tongs, he pulled the chicken out of the pot and placed it on a flat bowl to catch the liquid dripping from it. Before he did anything else, he grabbed another pot and filled it with water and began heating it up. He took a knife and scraped the skin off of the chicken. then began pulling the chicken meat from the bones, throwing it back into the pot.

When the water began boiling, he poured the noodles in, stirring them a few times and lowering the heat of the stove before putting the lid back on, leaving a crack open. He continued with separating the meat from the bones and when was finally finished, the noodles were done cooking as well and he quickly poured them into a strainer before adding them too into the large pot, placing it back onto the stove and activating the plate on a low setting. He then walked into El's bedroom, looking down at this angel in human form and gently shook her awake.

"Hey." he smiled when her eyes opened. "I made some chicken soup. Feel any better?"

"Actually, yeah." she nodded. "Still a little clammy."

"Just a tad." he chuckled when he saw her white nightshirt cling tightly to her.

"Pig." she poked out her tongue at him when she noticed why he was looking at her like that.

She grabbed a set of clean clothes and walked into the bathroom, stepping into the shower to clean herself. Meanwhile, Mike pulled the sheets from her bed to put them into the hamper for later washing. When El emerged from the bathroom, she felt refreshed and mostly healthy again, Mike's care from last night having helped immensely.

"Take a seat." he said and walked into the kitchen, coming back out carrying two plates and the pressure cooker, putting all of it down.

"What's this?" she asked, looking into the pot.

"Chicken soup." he replied, looking confused at her. "Didn't I tell you last night that I was going to make some?"

"Never saw chicken soup like this." she shrugged and took a taste. "Wow, that's good!"

"Told you." he winked at her and ate his share.

El helped herself to a second bowl and almost inhaled it, feeling better with every spoonful she ate. After lunch, Mike put a way the bowls and poured the remains of the pot, of which there was quite a lot, into a smaller pot before putting that into the fridge and cleaning the cooker. After a midday walk with Bella, Mike joined El on the couch and she laid her head down on his leg, a blanket over her.

Unconsciously, Mike began caressing her side and head. While her heart rate went up at first, El calmed down and her eyes became heavy again. She fell asleep roughly around one in the afternoon and Mike didn't dare move, not wanting to wake her, even as his body began reminding him that a human who ate a meal a few hours ago needed to use the bathroom once in a while. It wasn't until the early evening, when El stirred again.

"Real Housewives!" El gasped and her body went vertical.

"Unbelievable." Mike laughed.

"What?" El looked at him. "It's a great show."

"Objection." he kept laughing.

"Heathen." El pouted when Bella barked at them, demanding to be walked.

"Thank you, ma Belle. Perfect timing, just when Housewives starts." Mike chuckled and got up, putting the leash around the dog's neck. "See, even she thinks so."

"So I guess, she has to go to the pound after all." she huffed theatrically but then smiled at him before he left the house with their dog for her evening walk.

Almost an hour later, her show over, she got up and went into the kitchen, cutting apart some cucumbers as snacks for later. She heard a knock on her front door and wondered who it could be since neither she nor Mike had ordered food and apart from her dad and Mike, nobody should really be visiting her. But maybe he had just forgotten his key. She walked to the door and opened it, seeing someone she hadn't expected at all.

"Simon?" she looked at the guy who she got partnered with for a project to be handed in during the first month of the new semester. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought we could get a head start for our project, so we don't have to do it during the first week." he replied and she didn't like the way he looked at her.

"It's summer break, how did you even know I was home?" she asked.

"I took a chance." he shrugged and she couldn't help but think he was lying. "So, wanna start? We could hash out who does what."

"Very well, come on in." she sighed, hoping that Mike would return soon from his walk with Bella.

* * *

"So, I heard you're still a virgin, is that true?" Simon asked after about ten minutes of them trying to work out their jobs, making El sigh, although she should have expected it.

"And where did you hear that?" she retorted, rolling her eyes.

"Word gets around." Simon smiled, leaning sideways on the couch and she had an idea where this was going.

"Well, word is wrong." she stated and decided to lie, tired of all those jerks hitting on her because they thought she belonged to them. "I have a boyfriend."

"Strange that no one ever saw you with one on campus." Simon stated.

"Because he's not going to our college, he's going to Stanford." she shot back. "Lets get back to the project so we can be done with it for today."

"Not so fast." Simon wasn't letting up, since he wanted to score with this one. "Who's this boyfriend?"

"Why do you care?" she gave him an exasperated look and she breathed a sigh of relief when she heard a key in the front door.

"I'm home!" Mike shouted, entering the house with Bella and saw El sitting on the couch with a guy he's never seen before.

"Who's this?" the guy asked before Mike could, giving him what Mike thought was supposed to be some kind of death glare, though Mike found it more ridiculous than scary, especially when Bella barked at him and the guy's eyes went to the large dog that looked at him as if to size up a possible meal.

"That's Mike, my boyfriend." El stated and Mike looked a bit surprised at her and saw her mouth mouthing the word _help_, Mike nodding in understanding.

"That guy?" Simon asked stunned, looking at Mike again and forgetting the dog for the moment, Bella sitting down in front of El's legs, ready to defend her mistress if necessary.

"Hey honey." Mike smiled at El as he walked around to her and bent down, her head moving backwards and he dropped a kiss on her lips, glad that she had understood his intent. "I'll leave you alone to work."

"Thanks." El smiled relieved, feeling her lips tingle and thankful that he had understood and while Simon continued to stare daggers at Mike's back, El activated her phone screen and started a WhatsApp call with him so he could listen in.

"So, how long have you two been together?" Simon asked, not quite believing that the girl he wanted to fuck and heard was single had a boyfriend after all.

"About a month." El shrugged. "It's hard to pin down a date, since it happened kinda fluidly."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"One day we were watching TV together and I laid my head down on his legs, the next thing I know I fall asleep cuddling into his chest and suddenly, we were kissing each other goodnight." El shrugged, describing a thing what had happened only a few hours ago. "Now, we kiss all the time."

"And have sex?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but of course." she rolled her eyes again. "Now, back to the project, otherwise, you can leave right now. I'm not wasting my time explaining my love life to you."

"You guys want something to drink?" a reappearing Mike asked, about to go into the kitchen.

"No, thanks." Simon tried to get the guy out of the room.

"Can you bring me a juice?" El asked.

"Of course, my love." Mike smiled, playing the doting boyfriend and making her stomach flutter at his term of endearment as he disappeared into the kitchen to come back out ten seconds later, carrying a bottle of juice and a bottle of water for himself. "There you go."

"Thanks, sweetie." El smiled back at him and motioned him closer with her eyes, Mike understanding and dropping another kiss on her lips.

"So, Mike, how long have you two been together?" Simon asked him this time, still not giving up on his idea that they were just acting. "And how did it happen?"

"About a month." Mike shrugged. "It kinda just happened."

"Interesting." Simon grumbled, their stories unfortunately consistent. "Listen, I think I should head out. I'll write my part at home and send it to you, then you can incorporate it into our report."

"Sounds good." El stated without emotion and got up to let him out, sighing in relief when the guy was gone.

"So, care to tell me why I'm suddenly your boyfriend?" Mike grinned and she flopped down on the couch, leaning into his side, feeling his heart rate speed up quickly.

"God, I can't stand that guy." she huffed into his shirt. "He's always making snide comments about me, about how he wants to fuck me. He thinks I don't know that he does this and now we are partnered for a project."

"He's an asshole, don't let him get to you." he advised, rubbing her back and side.

"Easier said than done." she sighed. "Hopefully, he'll get the hint now that he's walking against a wall with me."

"Do you have a lot of guys like him in your classes?" Mike asked.

"A few." she mumbled, her face still buried against his chest. "There's him, then there's Andrew who asks me out constantly and even smacks my ass no matter how many of his fingers I break in retaliation."

"Don't you get in trouble for breaking his fingers?" Mike wondered.

"Who's he gonna complain to?" El grinned. "The Chief of Police?"

"Yeah, that would go over well." Mike chuckled. "Chief, I want to press charges against your daughter. I smacked her ass and she had the nerve to break my fingers."

"Dad would probably shoot him and make the body disappear." El laughed, lifting her head and seeing his smiling face. "I think you earned a reward for helping me like this."

"Really?" he looked expectantly. "What is it?"

"Wait here." she giggled and hurried into her room.

Taking a deep breath and wondering if she should go through with it, she decided to just do it, taking off her shorts and pulling the fabric of her underwear up a bit to make it look like it had been the other night. She even changed into another loose undershirt, knotting it up under her breasts to look like she did during their drunken night and when she looked at herself in the mirror, she nodded to herself and took another deep breath before taking the chance.

"Tadaa." she giggled as she walked into the living room.

"My god, you're so sexy." he groaned and slid down on the couch, his head ending up under the top of the backrest before barking out a short laugh.

"What's so funny?" she looked at him confused.

"Your underwear, it's pink." he grinned.

"Yes?" she still didn't understand.

"You got a pink slip." he winked at her.

"Ha ha." she gave him an eye-roll laugh, getting the joke. "If you think this is sexy, what about this?"

El turned her back to him and began dancing a bit, swaying her hips to a tune in her head. Mike couldn't believe what he was seeing, and he thought for a moment that she got drunk again, otherwise, he couldn't quite believe where this version of El had come from. She turned again and winked at him before twirling around again, taking three steps closer to him.

"You're killing me here." he whined.

"But I'm not doing anything." she giggled and squealed when he suddenly grabbed her around the waist and pulled her onto the couch with her partially ending up on his lap.

"You know full well what you're doing." he said.

"I'm completely innocent." she smiled and turned to look at him, his eyes boring holes into her soul, her smile disappearing when she realized the intensity of his look.

"I..." he stammered, his hand still around her waist and she felt a slight pressure from them, also seeing his eyes flicker to her lips.

"Mike." she breathed and moved forward, her arms snaking around his neck and her lips connecting with his.

* * *

**So, she finally kissed him :D**

**Review please :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**You ever heard of art imitating life and vice versa? I wrote El to get a sudden cold and a day later, I get a sudden cold. My head hurts, my left sinuses are blocked (except at night when the blockage wanders to the right as weird as that sounds) and I have trouble concentrating. So, I hope you'll forgive me if there are too many errors and that you...**

**Enjoy this one too:)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and I write for my own pleasure and that of the readers.**

* * *

As far as first kisses went, El had imagined hers to be something big. She had imagined herself and her possible boyfriend to be going on a date, maybe getting some food, watch a movie and then the evening ending with a sweet kiss that slowly deepened but ended after maybe a minute as a start with a promise for more.

The reality was so far different, if anyone had told her that, she would have called them crazy. After she had basically thrown herself at him, his response had taken about three seconds, his surprise at their lip contact palpable but before she thought about pulling back and apologizing, his arms had crushed her against him, his mouth devouring hers and his tongue begging for entrance. She had granted it of course, her tongue meeting his in a sensual dance that often turned heated before calming down again but never ending.

That had been six hours ago. And so far, they hadn't stopped kissing. The only thing that had happened was Mike pulling her into his lap and then standing up, lifting her with him and holding her up with his hands on her ass, something that she had to admit felt very nice. He had walked into his room, since she hadn't put new sheets on her bed yet after he had taken her old ones off, and sat down on his bed, pushing her legs apart to disentangle her from his hips.

Then he had laid them both down, their bodies on their sides and one of his hands caressing her butt cheek as they kept kissing. Whenever he had wanted to pull back for whatever reason, she hadn't let him, simply moving her head forward to keep the kiss going. If she then tried to pull back, he pushed forward and the kiss continued on as did the movement of his hand on her ass.

And for six hours, his hand never left her ass. It never moved up or down and he never tried to touch her center with a finger, simply always caressing her cheek and making her heart beat fast for so long, she was afraid she might get a heart attack. She would have expected his caressing to be the precursor to him turning her on her back and then trying to take her clothes off so he could have sex with her.

But that didn't happen. El had no idea why. Didn't he want to? The sporadic erections he had told otherwise. It went from poking her in the thigh to retreating to back to poking, depending on how she moved against him. It had also happened whenever she had moaned. But he never tried anything more.

"Mike?" she finally managed to separate their lips for long enough to say his name.

"What?" he breathed hard.

"Don't you want to have sex with me?" she asked shyly.

"Of course I want to have sex with you." he chuckled. "It takes all my willpower not to ravish you right now."

"Why don't you?" she wanted to know.

"Because I love you and I don't want to hurt you and I also don't want you to think that it's only about the sex for me." he said and suddenly saw her starting to cry. "What's wrong?"

"I love you too." she sniffed and wrapped her body around his. "In retrospect, I loved from the moment you said 'Hey there, I'm Mike'."

"Really?" he asked surprised. "Wow."

"You look a bit sad now, why?" she asked concerned.

"Because I fell for you the moment you slurped down your first forkful of spaghetti the day I moved in." he told her. "Imagine how much earlier we could have been doing this."

"Well, we're doing nothing but kissing so far, I thought you didn't want me." she said.

"I want you very badly, but I always felt that doing it on the first day or night you get together may send the wrong signal." he shrugged with one shoulder, since the other was still squeezed between the bed and his body.

"Okay, lets recap." she grinned, turning them and ending up on top of him. "We have been in love for a while and now admitted it to each other."

"True." he chuckled, his hands running over her thighs.

"Then please believe me when I say that I won't receive the wrong signal." she smiled and bent down to kiss him again. "Mike, make love to me."

"As you wish." he breathed and turned them again, his mouth trailing kisses down her body.

With excruciating slowness, his lips touched every inch of her skin from her throat to her stomach. To her surprise, he never pulled her shirt from her breasts, simply keeping going down until his lips had reached her slip, stopping at the fabric. He began running his tongue along the area and pushed out his chin, the hard bone hitting her clit under her slip and then he slowly moved it left an right, putting some pressure on it.

"Jesus, do that again!" she gasped.

"As you wish." he chuckled and did what she demanded, moving his chin left and right again and again.

This was an a lot different kind of pressure than she had when she touched herself. It was more forceful and more outside her control and she began wriggling beneath him, his hands moving to her waist to keep her in place. It took him only two minutes to make her climax from that, El shaking and gasping as she came. Mike grinned at her and lifted his upper body, his fingers going under the waistline of her underwear.

"Go ahead." she nodded when she noticed him hesitating, lifting her hips to allow him to pull her slip off but she felt a sudden bout of self-consciousness at baring herself fully at him, keeping her knees clenched together but he simply put his hands on them and slowly pulled them apart.

"Beautiful." he breathed and he looked at her down there, El blushing at the compliment.

When he began to settle down on the bed with his head between her legs, her heart rate went up even further, excitement coming over her body at the thought of him pleasuring her. His mouth touched her knee, then her thigh, her inner thigh and it moved closer and closer as he fully settled down and El forced herself to look. He gave her a wink and his mouth descended on her and then she only felt pleasure.

"SHIT!" she cursed, her hips pushing up to get more friction. "Keep doing that."

He didn't reply, letting his tongue answer for him as it flicked over her nub. She hissed, her feet wrapping around his neck and pulling him closer to her to avoid him moving away, not that Mike had any inkling to do so. To him, she tasted better than he had ever imagined and while he had fantasized about her vagina ever since she had pushed his hand on it, nothing could have prepared him for the real thing.

El kept wriggling under him, shouting out her pleasure into the room and when he suddenly stopped what he was doing, she opened her eyes to look at him. He wasn't looking back, and as she watched, he put his hands next to his head and used his fingers to pull her folds apart before pushing his tongue into her and running it along the insides.

El shrieked in pleasure and she felt the next climax approach. When it hit, her legs clenched hard, keeping his head against her and Mike felt her come, never stopping the movement of his tongue. To El, it felt as if his tongue was moving the same way that Bella's did whenever she drank water, Mike lapping up her arousal as if he was dying of thirst. His ministrations prolonged her climax and it took her almost a minute before she was calming down again, Mike finally stopping and grinning at her.

"Mike!" she gasped, looking directly into his eyes. "Cock, inside me!"

With a chuckle, Mike sat up and discarded his boxers, presenting his erection in all its full glory. El's eyes went wide when she saw it, remembering the first day he had lived her when she had seen it in the bathroom, all flaccid but already big. Compared to that, he was freaking huge now, at least to her eyes and she became apprehensive at having this go inside her.

"Are you really sure?" he asked, surprised, kneeling in front of her with his hands on her knees.

"Yes." she nodded.

"It will probably hurt quite a bit." he warned her.

"Given how huge you are, I have no doubt." she said and got an idea. "Get on your back."

"What are you planning?" he wanted to know as he laid down flat, watching El get up and swing her leg over him.

"I'm going to lose my virginity to you by being on top." she grinned, proud of her own idea. "Then you don't have to worry that you're going too fast."

Amazed at her forwardness, he watched in awe as she lifted up her hips and lined herself up to him, grabbing his manhood between them to guide it to her center. His tip touched her and to him, it felt as if it was on fire and when she began lowering herself, Mike groaned, the feeling of her tightness overwhelming.

El was similarly overwhelmed. She wanted nothing more than slam down to get it over with but she knew that this would be intensely painful, so she kept going until his tip was just over an inch inside her, where she felt the resistance of her hymen. Taking a deep breath, she pushed, feeling the pain that came from her virginity being lost and waiting until it had subsided as much as possible. She went lower still, pausing after every inch to get used to him until she felt herself being full.

"See?" she panted. "Not much pain and you're in."

"Uh... El?" he moaned, and when she opened her eyes, he pointed between them, causing El to look.

"You have got to be kidding me!" she gasped when she saw that only about two thirds of his manhood were inside her. "I'm full!"

"I think that's just your imagination." he suggested, his hands moving along her waist.

She slowly moved her hips up and down, getting used to his girth and trying to gauge the pain level. He was almost impossibly huge, at least in her mind, and she wondered how it looked down there when he entered her. It took her almost ten minutes, her thighs already burning from the strain of holding herself up and not moving quickly and she tried to sit down on him to get him fully into her.

"Mike?" she panted, his arms still around her.

"Yeah?" he looked into her eyes.

"Can you turn us around?" she asked. "I want you to push the rest of the way, slowly please."

"Okay." he nodded and attempted to do just that.

"Wait." she stopped him and pulled her undershirt from her body, completely naked for the first time.

"Perfect." Mike wanted to weep when he saw her breasts, his hands moving to them.

"Now." she smiled and laid back down, allowing him to wrap his arms around her and turn them both around so she ended up under him.

Mike spread her legs further and lined himself up, pushing slowly in until he was two thirds in. At a nod from El, he began pushing further, as slow as he could and he watched her expression with great care to see if he had to stop. When her eyes closed into an expression he knew from when a dentist drilled close to the root of a tooth, he immediately stopped, allowing her to get used to his girth.

"Keep going." she gasped, still in complete disbelief that he was that big and even more, that he was able to fit in there.

"Now I'm completely inside you." he groaned after another two minutes, when he had fully buried himself inside her.

"Jesus Christ!" El gasped. "Your dick must be under my heart now."

"What?" he couldn't help but chuckle. "It's not that long."

"Mike, please move." she begged.

Mike slowly began thrusting, pulling out almost fully before going back in. El moaned loudly, feeling him move inside her, her inner walls squeezing his manhood. Mike, for his part, was desperately trying not to come yet, which was hard since she was so tight that he could barely move. He listened to her breathing and tried to watch her expression and after another three long minutes, he finally saw her face go from slightly pained to experiencing pleasure.

He sped up a fraction, his lips descending on hers and El began meeting his movements until they moved with a beautiful harmony. Mike felt her clench up, trying to figure out if she was climaxing or in pain but a sudden scream, along with her shaking told him everything he needed and he began chasing his own climax, achieving it after thirty seconds of being almost painfully squeezed.

"Jesus." he panted, trying not to collapse on her petite body.

"Jesus, indeed." she breathed hard as well. "If tonight was an indication of what sex with you is like, you and I will have a lot of fun together."

"I surely hope so." he chuckled and gave her a loving kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too." she smiled warmly at him. "Now please get up, I need to clean myself up."

He groaned when he watched her leave, El not even bothering to put on clothes and shaking her behind in a very suggestive manner, winking at him before she left the room. She hurried into the bathroom and used the toilet before stepping into the shower to clean herself. As she stood under the spray, Mike joined her, his arms enveloping her in a loving embrace.

"You are truly the most beautiful woman I have ever seen." he said sincerely.

"Really?" she asked a bit self-conscious. "My breasts aren't that big."

"That's what adds to your beauty." he smiled, gently running his fingers over her mounds. "They fit your body perfectly and I wouldn't want to see them changed in any way."

"Good." she grinned and wrapped her arms around him. "Wash my back."

"Of course, dear." he laughed and grabbed the loofah, wetting it down and running it along her back.

"What time is it anyway?" she asked him once they were done and drying themselves.

"I think it's somewhere close to two in the morning." he shrugged.

"Ugh, don't you dare wake me tomorrow." she groaned. "Let me sleep."

"No problem." he chuckled and both exited the bathroom to go into their respective rooms.

Mike stepped into his room and put on his sleeping shorts before sitting down on his bed. He had no idea how to proceed now. Should he go into her bedroom to sleep in the same bed with her? Was that too presumptuous? The last thing he wanted was to appear clingy but before he could psych himself out even more, El stepped into his room, wearing her tight snoopy pajama bottoms and one of his shirts.

"What?" she asked when she was his smile while climbing into his bed.

"Nothing, I was just thinking about coming into your room but I didn't know if you had wanted me to." he chuckled, laying down on his side to make room for her.

"My love, I don't want to spend a single night away from you again." she smiled warmly at him and dropped a kiss on his lips before snuggling her back against his chest. "So, unless one of us really has to sleep somewhere else, we're going to sleep either in your room or in mine."

"Well, your bed is bigger than mine." he shrugged.

"But your room is cooler than mine at night during the summer, so we can save on using the AC as long as the girls aren't back yet." she told him, closing her eyes.

"Speaking of which, are we going to tell them?" he asked. "Or do you want to keep this between us a while longer?"

"I would have no problem doing the latter but even though they're in relationships, I don't fully trust Jennifer and Stacy." she giggled. "So, when they get back, we can tell them, just so they know that you're wearing my brand now."

"If I wake up with a tattoo of your face looking sternly at others on my body, I'm suing you." he laughed.

"Good night, Mike." she laughed with him. "Love you."

"Love you too." he gave her kiss on the neck. "Night, El."

* * *

El woke up and felt a distinctive lack of Mike behind her. She let her hand move behind her body, trying to figure out if he had just rolled away from her but the bed seemed to be empty of him. She reluctantly opened her eyes, seeing the morning sun shine into the northeast window and a quick look at the clock showed it to be just shy of six-fifteen.

With a groan, she turned on her back, pulling the duvet over her head and smelling Mike's scent, feeling arousal pooling in her abdomen. When she pulled the covers back down, she saw his night shorts hanging over the chair, which meant that he had gotten up already. Her bladder screaming at her, she shambled into the bathroom, using the toilet and washing her face before returning to his room.

As she came through the door, she saw Mike in the backyard without a shirt, his body moving in beautiful movements as if he was doing a very slow form of martial arts. She knew enough to guess that it was Tai Chi, that Asian form of meditation and she marveled at his form as he moved. Before she knew it, she had watched him for half an hour and at the end of his routine, he gave a bow to a curious Bella, who barked at him before he petted her.

"Good morning." she grinned through the open window, involuntarily licking her lips at his glistening body.

"Hey." he smiled back, giving her a kiss. "Did I wake you somehow?"

"Indirectly." she nodded. "You weren't there and my body was missing you."

"Aw, that makes me feel so loved." he chuckled.

"That's because you are." she winked at him. "If you think I'll allow you away again, think twice."

"Uh, I like this possessive side of you." he gave her another kiss. "Hey listen, after my shower I have to talk to you. Or we could talk after I walked Bella."

"About?"

"I have an appointment at one in San Francisco today." he told her.

"Is it something bad?"

"No, but it's about how I make my money." he hesitated.

"Mike." she put his hands on his face, pulling him in for another kiss. "I already know."

"You do?" he gasped, pulling back surprised. "How?"

"Remember when we flipped a coin for walking Bella in that rainstorm?"

"Yeah." he nodded.

"When I came back, you were in one of your trances and when I walked past you, I saw what you were writing." she revealed.

"I see." he whispered. "Does that change the way you think about me?"

"If anything, it made me fall in love with you even more than I already was." she smiled. "You may not know it but The Torn Heart is my favorite book."

"Really?"

"Yes, but the way it was written, I always thought that the author was a woman." she chuckled. "You have some amazing insights into a woman's psyche."

"Thanks." he smiled relieved.

"Come on in, you take a shower and I'll make some coffee, then we can walk Bella together."

"Okay." he agreed and walked around the house, going into the bathroom to shower while El prepared some coffee.

They poured it into two travel mugs and took it with them, Mike buying two bagels on their way to eat. So long as they had a free hand each, they interlaced them, walking hand in hand down the streets, El proudly showing everyone around them the he belonged to her and her alone. An hour later, they were on their way back to the house, where Mike could refill the food dispenser so the dog could have breakfast as well.

"Hey, you wanna come with me to San Francisco?" he suggested. "We could make it a day, have some lunch when we get there and I can do my appointment at one and..."

"We could so some shopping!" she hopped in excitement.

"Sure, we could do that." he nodded with a pained expression though El knew that it was because of a guy's general hatred of shopping. "But not too long though, we should get back at six so we can walk Bella."

"True." she nodded.

"El!" a male voice got their attention.

"Dad!" El greeted her dad, hugging him. "Another inspection tour?"

"No, breakfast." Jim chuckled and pointed to their joined hands. "So, I guess you finally got your heads out of your asses."

"Dad, language!" El admonished him. "But yes."

"Congrats." Jim hugged her again and shook Mike's hand. "Remember, if you hurt her, I'll make you disappear."

"Noted." Mike chuckled. "But that's the last thing I want to do."

"Dad, don't scare him, I want to keep this one." El grinned.

"I can see that." Jim nodded in understanding.

"Hey dad, can you do us a favor?" El asked. "Could you walk Bella this evening?"

"Sure, why?"

"Me and Mike are going to San Fran, he has an appointment there and he promised to take me shopping." El smiled.

"Son, have you any idea what you're getting yourself into?" Jim gasped.

"It can't be that bad." Mike laughed. "But even if it is, she's worth it."

"You two have it bad." Jim shook his head. "Sure, I'll walk her."

"Thanks, dad." El hugged him again. "Her food is in the second cabinet from the right. Just open a can and dunk it into her bowl and refill her water bowls."

"Will do that." Jim nodded. "Sorry, I gotta go now, those donuts won't buy themselves."

"See you, dad." El waved at him. "See, he likes you."

"Does he have a point with the shopping?" he asked concerned.

"I'm not that bad." she pouted. "But you may wanna make some space in your car."

"Jesus." Mike palmed his face.

They returned to the house and at ten-thirty, they got into his car and began the drive to San Francisco. Traffic was bad, so it took them over an hour to get there and after Mike parked his car on the parking lot of his publisher, he and El looked for a cozy place for lunch, finding a small restaurant where they enjoyed a cold lunch, El choosing a chicken salad while Mike took tuna. He paid for both of them and they walked back to the publisher building, El choosing to wait until he came back out.

"Look, there they are." Simon pointed to the couple. "The bitch and her boyfriend. Who apparently lives with her and those other three chicks."

"And what now?" Andrew asked. "You wanna beat him up?"

"I'd like to." Simon nodded. "Then get me some of that fine ass of hers."

"You may wanna call some of our buddies at Stanford to find out if anyone knows something about him." Andrew counseled.

"Why?" Simon wondered. "You think I can't take him?"

"Do you wanna attack him only to find out that he can kick your ass?" Andrew chuckled.

"Point taken." Simon accepted as they watched them walk into a building. "I'll call Robert tomorrow. By the way, did you know that they have a huge dog?"

"Since when?"

"No idea, when I went to her house to see if I could score with her, the guy came in with that monster." Simon shuddered. "As long as that thing is even close to her, I wouldn't dare touch her. If that thing is gone, I can do her."

"I don't like where your talk is going." Andrew looked at him. "Remember, her dad is the Chief of Police."

"Right." Simon realized. "Well, she can't withstand my charm forever."

"She's painfully capable of resisting mine." Andrew winced, bending his fingers only to hear them crack.

"Smacking a girls ass outside of sex is no way to make them like you." Simon laughed. "Don't worry, my charm will be much more subtle and when I'm done with her, that guy can hit the road."

Laughing, the two went their way.

Mike and El were completely unaware of that of course, given that he was in a meeting with his publisher and El was sitting in the lounge, surfing the internet on her phone and trying to find information about when Mike's new book will be released. Amazon had already listed it with a TBD notification for the release date. It took almost two hours but Mike finally returned to her, his face lit up in a smile and a middle aged blond next to him.

"Lisa, this is my girlfriend El." Mike introduced her. "El, this is my publisher Lisa."

"I thought her name was Diane." El wondered.

"Listening to my phone calls, are we?" Mike chuckled.

"Diane is my assistant." Lisa told her. "Alright Mike, I'll call you as soon as the printing is done."

"Thanks, Lisa." Mike shook her hand and took El's before leaving the building.

"So?" El asked curious.

"I negotiated a better contract for me." Mike smiled. "She liked the book so much that she agreed to it right away."

"Oh, what's this new contract about?"

"Well, usually an author only gets a dollar and twenty-five cents per twenty dollar book sale. I wanted more." he shrugged.

"How much more?" she wanted to know.

"Double that."

"But it's still only one-eighth of the entire sales price." she pointed out.

"Yes, but unless you're a well known author with dozens of books out like James Patterson or Stephen King, you rarely get more than that." he retorted.

"Then how did you do it?"

"I told her that if they didn't pay me more, I'd simply sell them myself." he shrugged. "Ebooks cost essentially nothing to produce and I can have them printed in certain numbers and reprinted if those sell out. In return for more money, I signed for a third book to make it a trilogy."

"A third one?" she almost hopped in excitement. "You can do that?"

"Yeah, I left the ending for the second one ambiguous enough." he nodded.

"When is the release date?" she desperately wanted to know.

"In a month, I think." he told her. "They're going to start a small advertising campaign during the printing process."

"You have at least four sales already." she giggled.

"Whoohoo, ten bucks in my pocket." he did a little happy dance.

"Hey, don't mock the desire for women to read about your main character and her life." El pouted.

They entered a shopping center and El's eyes glazed over at the offers. She dragged him into the nearest clothing store and perused the offers, looking at underwear and holding some of it against her, looking at his reaction and apart from one pair, he only drooled at imagining her in all of them. As she walked to the dress section, her eyes fell on a truly beautiful dress.

"Oh my god!" she gasped. "Mike, look at this one."

"Try it on." he shrugged.

"Mike, it's way too expensive." she sighed.

"Honey, try it on." he winked and took the dress off its hanger, pushing it into her hands.

Giddily, she ran into an empty changing booth, discarding her clothes and her bra before trying on the dress. It fit her like a glove, not a single area too tight or too wide. It snuggled against her breasts, making them appear bigger without actually being a like a wonderbra and her ass looked in it as if it could crack a coconut.

"So?" his voice from outside startled her out of her reverie.

"What do you think?" she asked, stepping out.

"Oh my lord!" he gasped and took a step back when this angel came out of the booth, even other customers staring at her. "This dress is made for you."

"Mike, I can't afford it." she sniffed, agreeing with him though.

"I'll pay." he offered.

"I can't accept that." she gasped.

"Honey, I've got quite a bit of money, remember?" he whispered. "You can see it as your early birthday gift."

"I love you!" she cried and her lips crashed against his. "Let me change out of this."

She quickly put her normal clothes back on and watched in awe as Mike used his debit card to pay the enormous amount of money for the dress. She took the bag almost reluctantly, fearing that even holding it wrong would ruin the dress inside. She also purchased some sexy underwear, winking at him as she paid, this time herself before she dragged him to a shoe store.

As the time passed, Mike finally understood what Jim had meant. The hours dragged by, El visiting almost every store and soon enough, Mike stumbled through the mall with a dozen shopping bags in his hands, getting sympathetic looks from several guys who were sitting on benches in the middle of the mall court.

"Jesus." Mike sighed when he finally sat down.

"I see your wife goes a little crazy." an older man laughed.

"We're not married." Mike shook his head. "Yet."

"Mine was almost as bad when we were your age."

"Her dad warned me about this, I didn't want to believe him." Mike chuckled and looked at El getting two hot dogs and something to drink. "But she's so worth it."

"That's the spirit." the man held out his hand. "I'm Jacob."

"Mike." he greeted him. "Is your wife here too?"

"My wife died two years ago." Jacob sighed.

"I'm so sorry to hear that." Mike was deeply sorry for the man.

"It's okay." Jacob nodded. "Even though I miss her terribly, I treasure the years we had together."

"There you go." El smiled at him as she handed him the hot dog an the drink.

"Thank you, my love." Mike smiled back and kissed her before El sat down on his leg.

"Ouch!" she winced and quickly got up again.

"What's wrong?" he asked concerned.

"Um... I'm a little... sore, down there." she whispered into his ear after sitting down next to him.

"My fault." he chuckled.

"Oh yes, mister, it so is." she agreed. "But so worth it."

After eating the hot dogs in comfortable silence, Mike grabbed the shopping bags and carried them out to the car before they began the drive back to their home. And while he drove, El looked at his profile and giddily looked forward to further explore this new level of their relationship.

* * *

**Ah well, they're an item now ^^**

**Review please :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Flyingtuna: I'll take loads of breaks in my two week vacation :D**

**LeiaSolo2002: Sagst, du kannst auch englisch schreiben und dann schreibste auf Deutsch? :D**

**Enjoy this one too:)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and I write for my own pleasure and that of the readers.**

* * *

"And this is better for her?" El asked Mike, skating next to him, her hand in his while Mike held the leash in his other.

"Yeah, one an a half mile an hour is an insult to a big dog, three and a half is better." Mike nodded.

"So, should we now replace the regular walks with this every time?" she wondered, finally knowing why he habitually skated with Bella without really walking her.

"No, we still have to walk her so she can relieve herself but this is a good exercise for her that burns off her excess energy, so she's calm when we're not home." he told her.

"Hopefully that will prevent what happened two days ago." El sighed. "My poor teddy bear."

"I'm having it fixed." he chuckled, remembering when they woke up to the sight of Bella proudly munching on El's childhood teddy and already having ripped an eye out of it.

"You better." she pouted. "My poor bear. Bad dog."

Mike grinned and looked at his girlfriend. He still couldn't quite fully believe that she was his girlfriend now. They have been together for three days now and Mike could proudly say that those three days had been the happiest in his life. He saw her profile, the way she concentrated on rolling forward and he smiled even more. Whenever she took off her clothes in front of him, he wanted to weep at her beauty with the only thing stopping him being that it would prove to be the opposite of manliness.

For her part, El harbored similar thoughts as they rolled along. Until three days ago, she had never quite understood why Max and Lucas were so active those one or two nights a week they could get together but now that Mike had made her a woman for real, she knew. She could barely stop herself from jumping him most of the time, no matter the room they were in and only the fact that he had to recharge prevented her from doing it with him all day long.

It had even changed her clothing. Usually, she rarely bothered with putting on clothes that would make men look twice at her, always thinking that it should be her personality that a guy should fall in love with. But ever since Mike told her he loved her, she wanted to look good for him and for their skating today, she dug an old pair of jeans shorts out of her closet, one whose legs barely reached her upper thighs and was tighter than she remembered.

But his reaction had been worth it. He had grabbed her, put his hands on her ass and caressed it while kissing her and she enjoyed his caresses and attention before Bella interrupted them with a bark, the dog having waited patiently for almost ten minutes while her masters made out. And now, she was proudly enjoying the looks she got from young men, showing what she got but what they couldn't have since it belonged to the man holding her hand, the one who had made her a woman.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Mike spoke up.

"Sure." she nodded.

"Have you told Max, Stacy and Jennifer about us?" he asked.

"No, why?" she shrugged. "It's not as if I owe them a real time update about my relationship status."

"True." he accepted. "Will be a nice surprise for them when they get back."

"Yeah." she laughed. "And will be a good sign of who of them was just joking about you."

"What do you mean?" he looked at her confused.

"Jennifer has mentioned several times that she would gladly give you sexual favors to keep you in the house if you ever decided to move out." El grinned. "Everything from morning blowjobs to let you do whatever you want to her."

"Interesting." he mused.

"Hey!" El gasped. "I'm the only one you are now allowed to do these things with."

"Just pulling your leg." he laughed. "You're the only one I want to do these things with."

"Good." she pouted. "And if temptation ever approaches you, just remember that my dad is the Chief of Police and he can make you disappear."

"Noted." he laughed again, touched and also a bit turned on by her possessiveness before he saw a familiar person. "Hey look, speak of the devil. There's your dad."

"Hey dad." El shouted as they rolled over to the older man, sitting with two younger men of color.

"Wow, the last time I've seen you wear those, you were fifteen." Jim pointed at her choice of pants.

"Yeah, well, it's hot today." El blushed.

"Sure it is." Jim smirked, not being fooled for a second and petting the dog when Bella walked over to him, sniffing at his breakfast. "Hello beautiful, you like doughnuts?"

"She likes almost everything edible." Mike chuckled.

"Can I give her some of this?" Jim asked, holding up the rest of his doughnut.

"Not yet, wait until she calms down." Mike told him, looking at Bella who was still standing next to the table with her ears raised.

"How do I know when?" Jim asked, looking at the dog.

"When her ears move back and she sits down. That indicates that she has calmed down." Mike said and it took another two minutes before Bella realized it too, the dog sitting down and stopping to beg. "Now you can reward her."

"There you go." Jim smiled, holding out his hand with the rest of the doughnut in the palm of his hand, letting her eat if from it instead of holding to her between his fingers and risk being bitten.

Bella wolfed down the sweet treat, licking Jim's hand to get all the remains of the frosting and to thank him for it. Jim took another one and threw it to her, Bella doing a small jump upwards to catch it before laying down to eat her treat in peace.

"What a great dog." one of her dad's colleagues gushed over the animal. "You trained him well."

"Actually, he did." El smiled up at Mike, running her hand over his back. "Before he came, Bella was hard to control for us whenever we took her in."

"Oh, she isn't yours?" the man asked.

"She is now." El clarified. "Her previous owner died a few weeks ago and neither of his kids couldn't take her with them. And when Mike proved himself to be a good dog whisperer, I decided to allow her to stay."

"She's a tough landlady." Mike agreed. "In the house, her word is law."

"And my word shall not be questioned." El grandstanded theatrically.

"I bet she learned that from her dad." another of her dad's colleagues laughed. "Jim, you wanna introduce us?"

"Oh, sorry." Jim apologized. "El, these are Jamaal and Kareem, they're my slaves."

"Gets funnier every time." the guy who was introduced as Kareem deadpanned. "We're his personal assistants."

"Strange, when the commissioner and mayor made that joke, you guys laughed." Jim smirked.

"Because they can fire us." Jamaal argued.

"I can do that too." Jim huffed.

"But you won't, you couldn't find the coffee machine without us." Jamaal grinned.

"And even if you found it, you wouldn't know how to use it." Kareem added with a chuckle.

"In my defense, that coffee maker looks straight out of a space ship." Jim lifted his hands in surrender. "Anyway, this is my daughter Jane, but her friends call her El, and my future son-in-law Mike."

"We've only been together three days." El argued.

"Mark my words, it will happen." Jim chuckled. "Mike, welcome to the family."

"Thank you, Chief." Mike smiled, feeling warm at the thought.

"Well, my order now is that we continue on to finish Bella's run and then return to our air-conditioned home." El ordered. "Mike needs to prepare and later work on lunch."

"Sure. Preparing lunch." Jim scoffed. "At nine in the morning."

"Dad!" El whined, blushing hard, though the insinuation was very appealing to her. "We have to buy some of the ingredients first."

"Well, off you go." Jim shooed her away. "We need to finish our breakfast and then these two have to carry me back to the office on my litter."

"Yes, my master." Kareem and Jamaal gave mocking bows, showing the two young adults that this banter was normal for them. "Our bodies and souls are yours to defile."

"I love these guys." Mike guffawed. "They quote The Gamers."

"Another nerd to our liking." Jamaal lifted his coffee cup in salute.

"Which Star Wars movie is the best?" Kareem asked.

"Empire, of course." Mike said, as if the question was an insult.

"And did the first three episodes happen?" Kareem added.

"What first three episodes?" Mike looked at him.

"That's my boy." Kareem laughed. "Next time we see you, we'll have your nerd card."

"I'm the king of nerds, do you really think I need a card?" Mike gave them a lopsided smile.

"My lord." Jamaal bowed again. "Your humble subject begs your forgiveness."

"Granted, this time. Next time, I'll send my loyal dragon." Mike looked down on him, barely able to keep his face straight and nudged Bella who gave a bark.

"The monster." Jamaal barked.

"Alright, enough of this nerd talk." El huffed and pulled Mike away, the larger man easily moved by her because of the wheels under his feet. "Bye dad!"

"Bye El." Jim waved after her.

"So, what will we have for lunch?" Mike asked her. "Any wishes?"

"I don't know, I have an appetite for something thick like a soup." El shrugged. "Hadn't had pea soup in a while."

"I can make one." Mike shrugged. "But we'll have to get some ingredients because I know we don't have all of them at home."

"Like what?" she asked.

"We need onions, leek, celery root, some bacon cubes, pork chops, large peas of course, potatoes and some bay leafs if we can find some but they aren't that important." Mike told her. "We still have onions and leek at home from the chicken soup I made you when you got sick."

"So, we need peas, celery root, bacon cubes, pork chops, the potatoes and bay leaves." El nodded. "Well, time for another trip to the grocery store."

Luckily or them, it was on their way. They turned a corner and rolled on, their dog running beside them with Mike barely having to control her speed or direction through the leash and El was happy that he had been able to get her under control like that because despite her earlier resistance to keep her, she was glad that Bella was living with them. Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the store, El putting the leash around the bike stands while Mike took off his backpack to get their shoes out for them to change.

"Jesus, look at her." Simon said to Andrew, seeing El bending down to change out of her skates and into her shoes. "I want to fuck that ass!"

"Me too." Andrew nodded. "I get the urge that we should simply do her together."

"Oh, sandwiching her." Simon grinned wickedly. "Nice touch. I get her asshole first."

"But I can see your concern about the dog." Andrew said. "Did you call Robert yet?"

"I did." Simon nodded. "He told me that he knows this guy from sight but never really talked to him, except saying hi. The guy studies criminal psychology like Robert and is apparently a freaking genius in that regard."

"And what about his physical capabilities?" Andrew forged on.

"Robert couldn't say." Simon shrugged. "This guy doesn't play any sports at Stanford but just going with his gut, Robert feels that this one can defend himself. He seems to have the confidence for it, never afraid of anyone there. Robert saw him argue with three football players of the Cardinals at the same time and he didn't back down, but they did."

"Interesting." Andrew mused and saw the guy looking in their direction. "We should leave."

"Isn't that the guy who was at your house when we got together?" Mike mentioned his head to the duo he was seeing.

"Yeah, it's Simon." El nodded when she looked as well. "The other guy is Andrew."

"The guy who slapped your ass and whose fingers you broke for it?"

"Exactly." El sighed, becoming aware of their gazes and now regretting her choice of pants.

"Want me to beat them up?" Mike smiled.

"You can do that?" El looked at him surprised.

"Sure, I can do martial arts." he winked. "I do it every morning, remember?"

"Aren't you doing Tai Chi?" she wondered.

"Yeah, but what do you think Tai Chi is." Mike laughed as he finished tying his shoes. "It's a martial art form that's done slowly as meditation but if I did it fast and fought you, it would hurt you as well."

"Huh." she was surprised. "Could you teach me?"

"Sure." he nodded. "Willing to get up early?"

"For you? Yes." she nodded. "As long as you wake me with a coffee in your hand and accept that I'll be grumpy."

"You're cute when you're grumpy." he laughed as he led them into the store, grabbing a basket.

"I doubt you would still have that attitude after a while." she grinned.

They walked through the isles and took the things they needed, Mike carrying the basket as it got fuller. After paying for their purchases, they left the store, El unleashing Bella from the bike stand. They decided to walk the rest of the way home, allowing the animal to relieve itself along the way. It was after ten when they returned home, Mike taking the bags with their purchases into the kitchen and laying out the ingredients before taking the pressure cooker out of the cabinet.

"Can I help?" she offered.

"You can peel the onions and cut them into cubes." he pointed to the round objects.

She took the protective onion glasses he had bought a while ago and began, peeling the skin off the onions and cutting them into cubes while he washed and cubed the celery root, cut the leek and poured oil into the cooker. While the oil heated up, he cut the pork chops into cubes as well and poured them and the bacon cubes into the cooker, frying them while he began peeling the potatoes and cutting them into cubes as well. El pushed the finished onion cubes towards him, smiling proudly at her achievement.

After a minute, one potato done, he added the onions, leek and celery into the cooker, stirring everything hard. Two minutes later, he poured half a gallon of water into the pot, steam shooting out of it and while it heated up, he finished peeling and cubing the potatoes before adding them as well, pouring the peas in last. Stirring once more, he finally closed the lid of the cooker and put it to the needed setting.

"So, now we have to wait for it to build pressure and then let it cook for half an hour." he said, turning around and finding El sitting on the kitchen island again, her legs dangling from the side. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." she nodded.

"Why don't we ever eat in here on this island?" he pointed at the large table with the smooth marble surface. "I mean, it has stools around it."

"I like to lean back after eating." she shrugged. "Can't do that on a stool like that."

"True." he accepted and looked at her figure, her slightly spread legs giving him a good look and making her ultra short jeans even more sexy.

El noticed his look and lifted her legs to sit in a wide Indian style, acting innocent while leaning back slightly to hold herself up with her hands. Mike's eyes turned dark and she began to feel heat pooling in her abdomen, his clear arousal making her moist as well. He came closer and pulled her feet apart, standing between her legs and pulling her body close, kissing her hard and invading her mouth with his tongue, which she met with her own, fighting for dominance.

"You know full well from the beginning what wearing that was doing to me." he said accusingly with a smile.

"Maybe." she shrugged innocently. "What are you going to do about it?"

"Maybe I want an appetizer before we have lunch." he smiled.

"What?" she wondered and got surprised when he pushed her backwards, opening the buttons on her denim shorts.

He pulled the shorts off of her body, taking her underwear with it and smiled at the perfection that met his eye. El smiled and leaned back more, spreading her legs wide and waiting for him to make a move. Mike sat down on one of the stools and pulled her closer, pushing his tongue against her, El putting her legs over his shoulders to hold herself up.

She moaned loudly when his tongue met her folds even if the hard surface of the kitchen island pressed against her shoulder blades. That discomfort was quickly forgotten when he really got to work, bringing her quickly to the sexual highs she had experienced before with him. With expertise, he brought her towards the cliff and kept her there, slowing down whenever she was about to climax and speeding up when she had calmed down.

He kept that going for almost fifteen minutes and El was alternating between moaning and then groaning in frustration whenever he stopped. But suddenly, just as she was expecting another slowdown, he sped up even more and she climaxed violently, her body shaking hard as the orgasm ripped through her.

"Jesus, you're mean!" she whined, breathing hard.

"I don't know what you're talking about." he smirked innocently.

"So that's how you wanna play it." she chuckled and was about to sit up but he surprised her again by pushing her down again and turning her around completely, so her legs were still hanging from the island but she was lying on it on her stomach.

"What are you doing?" she gasped.

"I'm going to fuck your tight pussy very hard." he gave her a wicked laugh, one she knew from over the top movie performances but that dominant side of his made her even more aroused.

He didn't wait long, opening his pants and letting them fall to the floor. She could feel his almost erect manhood against her thighs and she began moaning when he rubbed the tip against her folds, making her feel it hardening. Then, suddenly, he pushed in to the hilt, making her cry out in pleasure at the sudden intrusion.

He gave ten four seconds to get used to him before beginning to pound her. El began to yell out her ecstasy, feeling him deeper than before, if that was possible due to the angle. This was a completely new experience for El. Ever since she and Mike got together three days ago, they had had sex eight times, counting the current one and excluding the first time. But it had always been El initiating it and after foreplay, she had been on top every time, giving her the ability to control the speed and intensity.

Now, she was completely at his mercy. Since her legs were too short to reach the floor, she couldn't do anything to move with those and Mike was holding her arms, using them as leverage to pound into her, making it impossible for her to change her position on the table. But as she was climaxing again, Mike pausing while she clenched before pummeling her again once she had ridden it out, she realized that she wasn't really bothered by her lack of control because she knew that if she told him to stop, he would.

"Oh god!" she yelled. "Fuck me harder!"

"As you wish." he grunted through clenched teeth and used one of the stools to climb onto the table too, his feet now to the left and right of her hips.

This changed angle made his thrusts even deeper. El's eyes rolled back into her sockets, the pleasure she got from his manhood continuously scraping over her g-spot overwhelming in its intensity. For a moment, she felt remorse at staying a virgin for so long if that was what she had been missing but that was quickly replaced by satisfaction because it had made it possible that she experienced it all with Mike. And she thought it impossible that someone else would have ever been able to give her the pleasure that Mike was giving her.

"Come for me, baby." El begged, Mike's relentless pounding getting almost too much for her.

"Thank you." he breathed and he sped even up to chase his own climax, groaning loudly a few seconds later when he climaxed.

"Jesus Christ!" El panted. "That was so amazing."

"It was." he chuckled, slowly pulling out and hopping to the floor, taking a few paper towels to clean himself.

"I can't move." she laughed. "You fucked me too hard."

"Hyperbole much?" he joined her laughter and handed her a paper towel as well before pulling her off the table, only for her to promptly collapse to the floor.

"See?" she pouted and pushed the towel between her legs. "I can't even stand."

"Come on." he grinned and picked her up easily, carrying her into the bathroom.

Finding her legs again, she cleaned herself after he set her back down while he returned into the kitchen to take the pot off the stove and opening the valve to let the pressure out. After she was finished, she returned to the kitchen, still naked from the waist down and she saw him gaze hungrily at her lower parts.

"You just fucked me so hard and you're still looking at me like you want to eat me." she accused with a smile.

"Well, I wouldn't say no if you got back on the table." he winked and wiggled his tongue as the last of the steam exited the pot. "Okay, the soup is done but it needs to steep for another fifteen minutes."

"Can't wait." she said after smelling it while grabbing her underwear and putting it on, not bothering with the pants.

"You're staying in your underwear?" he asked.

"Yeah, those pants are really tight." she nodded.

"I knew it." he laughed.

"Yeah, I wanted to get you hot." she admitted.

"Well, it worked." he shrugged and enveloped her again, picking her up to sit her onto the kitchen island again so their heads were closer together in height. "Though knowing what's underneath the fabric already gets me hot, no matter what you wear."

"So I could wear a burlap sack?" she smirked.

"I wouldn't care." he winked and kissed her. "But I do want others to see how insanely hot you are and that I'm the only one who gets to do this."

"So you want me to be your arm candy." she accused him, again just jokingly.

"Yeah." he nodded, kissing her again.

"I see." she huffed and gave a theatrical cry. "So all that talk of your that you don't want a girl just so she makes you look cooler on front of others was just talk?"

"Pretty much." he winked again and kissed her once more.

"Pff, what have I gotten myself into?" she held her hand over her heart. "How are you going to keep me, given what you just said."

"Oh, I intend to butter you up with my cooking and my skills in bed." he smiled and gave her another kiss.

"Okay." she grinned and jumped into his lap, Mike almost dropping her because of the surprise, and kissed him hard. "You're my arm candy too."

"I wouldn't want to be anyone else's." he grinned too and got serious again. "I love you."

"I love you too." she smiled warmly and kissed him again until her stomach rumbled.

"Alright, you need sustenance." he laughed and set her down again. "Can you take two bowls?"

"Wanna fill them here or are you bringing the pot outside to the table?" she asked.

"I fill them here, if we want more, we still can get more." he said and she set the bowls down next to the pot.

He filled the bowls and carried them out to the dinner table, El following him with two spoons in her hand. She handed him one and sat down next to him, digging into her soup and hummed when she tasted it, the big peas and potatoes as soft as she expected from Mike's cooking. Looking at her boyfriend, she was almost giddy with joy that she was with him now, seeing him as the total package in terms of looks, brains and ability in household things.

"You know, I'm very envious of you." she spoke up after a few minutes of silent eating.

"Why?" he wondered.

"You have so much better psychology courses at Stanford than I have at my college." she sighed.

"Why don't you transfer?" he asked. "I've seen your grades, you'd surely be able to switch over."

"Because even if my grades are good enough and if I were accepted, I couldn't afford it." she shrugged.

"What if I gave you the money?" he looked at her after a few seconds of silence.

"Mike, no!" she gasped. "I couldn't ask you to give me twenty grand every three months."

"Honey, I love you." he smiled. "And remember, I'm quite well off."

"Still, it's too much and I would feel like a trophy girlfriend." she argued, though the idea of studying at Stanford and being with him all the time was very appealing to her.

"Then how about we see it as a loan without interest?" he suggested. "And as payment option, I stop paying rent."

"I don't know." she said quietly. "It would still make me feel like I'd use you for your money."

"The fact that you didn't accept right away and have these doubts tells me that you wouldn't do that." he said. "Come on, just say yes, I'm offering it to you."

"I... alright." she chuckled, her desire to get the best education she could winning over. "I'll enroll at Stanford for the requisite courses."

"I think you can bring the credits you already have for psychology." he said. "By the way, what happens with that project you have with this Simon guy?"

"Ah, shit." she huffed. "Wait, why am I saying shit? The guy is a sleazebag and I'd be gone from that college anyway."

"Right." he laughed and looked at her. "But you're not the kind of person to simply leave someone hanging."

"You're right." she sighed. "I'll simply write my part and send it to him by email, telling him that I'm gone afterwards."

"Ah, he'll be so sad." Mike grinned. "No more El he can drool over, wondering how it would feel to have sex with her."

"As if I ever would have had sex with that guy." she scoffed. "I bet every time he sees me on the street, he thinks about it."

"Then maybe it's a good thing that you transfer out." he remarked. "Some guys can't take rejection well, like that kid who killed a bunch of girls because, as he said in the video he recorded before, the wouldn't give him the time of day."

"Guys like that are mentally ill anyway." she shuddered. "When do we start with the training?"

"Tomorrow morning." he winked. "I'll wake you."

"Ugh." she grumbled at the thought of getting up so early. "Do we have to?"

"It's better in the morning." he nodded. "Before coffee, otherwise you'll be too cranked up."

"Why do you hate me." she gave a theatrical sniff.

"Because when you get annoyed, you're really sexy." he chuckled.

"Wait, for real?" she gasped.

"No, you're sexy all the time." he gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I'll promise not to wake you before seven and then we do it for an hour."

"And then training?"

"Uh, we'll train for an hour." he looked at her confused.

"Ah." she moped. "I thought you were saying we'd have an hour of morning sex before we train."

"Well, we can do that afterwards but I doubt I can do it an hour."

"Give yourself some credit, you made it to thirty minutes already." she smiled warmly at him.

"I did?" he asked surprised. "When?"

"Remember the day after we went shopping in San Fran?" she replied. "That evening, between me blowing and then riding you, Big Mike was busy for over half an hour."

"Wow, I'm good." he said with a deeper register.

"Don't let it go to your head." she winked and finished her food.

Watching him bring the used plates into the kitchen, she tried to understand how she could have gotten so lucky. With a smile, she began daydreaming about their future together, seeing a little Mike and a little El running around in the backyard of their house. But first, she had to finish a project to send to a guy she hated and then draw a line under all of that before she began a new life, so to speak, at Stanford.

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**Well, there it is ^^ Half of my vacation is over :(**

**Review please :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Root canal operation went fine. Never felt so much pain when the dentist filled the root canals with the filling they use. Was so weird when he took those small files to open the canals and then put these inch-long sticks into them to disinfect them.**

**But, enjoy this one :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and I write for my own pleasure and that of the readers.**

* * *

"Calm." he advised, moving in slow, deliberate motions, El trying to follow his lead.

_'Calm, he says!'_ El though to herself, thinking about putting her hands around his throat and throttling him.

The last few days have been a torture for her. Five days ago, mother nature had begun the process that excluded sexual intercourse but what she hadn't expected was how horny she would become during that time. Before she had lost her virginity to him, she had periods before but she had never felt like this, even when he had already been living here. But since they got together, they had done it at least twice a day, more often than not even three times. Every time it felt better than before but it made the lack of it even more pronounced.

Now she understood why Max had always been like that. She had used to smirk when Max was climbing the walls in her desire for Lucas, a desire she couldn't fulfill due to nature interfering. It didn't help El that Mike was always doing his morning exercise topless, wearing only his gym shorts. She had retaliated by choosing to wear tight gym shorts as well, along with a very short crop top that left little to the imagination, especially since she didn't put on a bra.

To distract herself, she had thrown herself into work. Doing two hours of Tai Chi training with Mike, even adding some self-defense techniques into the mix, walking or skating with Bella and also, writing long hours on the project she would have had to hand in with Simon, something she would usually work on for several weeks but she wanted to get it done during this week, especially since she got the confirmation from Stanford that she could start courses there after summer break.

"I think we should stop with the Tai Chi." Mike said after a few more minutes. "You're quite off this morning."

"Gee, you think?" she grumbled but felt satisfaction when she noticed his eyes roaming her body. "Lets get to self-defense, I need to hit something."

"What's going on?" he asked. "I know that you usually get grump during your... special time but I've never seen you like this."

"I don't think you have any idea how horny I am." she complained. "I feel like I'm about to jump out of my skin."

"Were you that horny when we weren't together yet?" he wondered, getting into position to attack her.

"No, I think it's because I now know how great sex with you is." she sighed. "Maybe it's because it's still so new. I see Max climbing the walls when she's having her period and she can't have sex with Lucas but she seems not as bad as I feel about it."

"Well, there's one thing we could do about it." he chuckled.

"Mike, while I don't rule it out completely for the future, I won't have anal sex with you today." she gaped at him. "Also, your cock is so big that I already feel filled to the limit when you go into the regular hole, I can't imagine it fits back there."

"What?" he looked at her shocked. "No! I'm talking about training."

"Oh." she blushed but was spared further embarrassment when he charged at her, causing her to reflexively take a step to the side and put her foot out to trip him, using her arms to shove him further.

"Very nice!" he congratulated her, impressed by her quick reaction, as he got back up. "Use your opponent's momentum against him."

"Learned that from my dad." she grinned.

"So, how else would you take down a guy who's attacking you?"

"Kick him in the testicles." she shrugged.

"Imagine I'm the attacker." he said and stepped right in front of her. "How would defend yourself now?"

"I could lift my knee into your groin." she suggested.

"Okay, but what if the angle doesn't fit." he continued, his body only two inches from her making her feel heat pool in her abdomen.

"So, what do I do?" she asked, trying to distract herself, otherwise she really might offer him her ass.

"The shins." he smiled. "Kick a person in the shins hard enough, and that person drops to the ground."

"So, always kick with the tip of the shoe." she nodded. "But what if my attacker grabs me from behind?"

"Alright, lets test it." he winked and stepped behind her, lifting her off the ground. "How would you get out of my grasp?"

"I could wriggle?" she suggested, trying to do just that but Mike simply tightened his grasp.

"You may not have much time to wriggle if your attacker is choking you." he said. "So, what would you do?"

"I can try kicking you." she suggested, feeling his grip not lessening. "Jesus, you're strong."

"Honey, you weigh less than Bella." he laughed.

"Hey, I'm not that tiny." she moped. "Okay, what do I do?"

"Your kicking suggestion is good, if you get the angle." he nodded. "Lift one leg forward and smash it backwards, or try bending your knee and push your foot back with force. You'll either hit the attacker in the shins or on the kneecap, hitting any of those areas will drop him."

"What if I don't have space to swing my leg?" she asked.

"Ah, the good question." he chuckled. "If you can't swing your leg to get force behind your kick, you put the heel of your shoe against your attacker's knee and push down as hard as you can."

"Does that hurt?" she wanted to know.

"Very." he confirmed. "Put a hard object hard against your skin and drag down and you'll see."

"So I could only use my legs?"

"If you can lean your body to the side, you can try to hit your attacker's head with your elbows." he suggested. "You lean to the right and snap your left elbow backwards or lean left and hit him with the right elbow. But that's not always doable. The leg is usually better to reach."

"Thank you." she smiled and kissed him once he had put her down. "Jeez, how do you deal with not being able to have sex?"

"I'm used to it." he chuckled and pulled her towards him, pressing his body against her back where she felt his erection through his shorts. "I felt aroused by you pretty much from the minute I moved in, especially when you wore shorts and tank tops. And don't get me started on the day I got back from Hawkins when you were flaunting your sexy body in your underwear."

"Believe it or not, I didn't do that on purpose." she grinned as they walked back into the house. "At least not in the beginning. Once we were in your room, I became aware of it but I decided to simply stay dressed like that, since you had seen me anyway. And of course, I wanted you to become aware of my body so you maybe make a move."

"I was aware of your hotness from the very beginning." he winked at her. "But there's one thing I wanted to ask you."

"Shoot."

"During that drunken night, when you put my hand between your legs..." Mike began.

"Yeah, I have remembered that since then." she laughed. "That was a weird thing I did."

"Before you fell asleep, you asked me to do something."

"Do what?"

"I don't know." he chuckled. "You said, quote, Mike, can you..., end quote, and then you were asleep."

"Ah, I don't remember that." she hummed. "But best guess, given that I pressed your hand against my pussy and you were rubbing it with your thumb, I probably wanted you to kiss me. Or touch me. Or do something similar."

"Alright, doesn't really matter, it happened a day later." he shrugged.

"Yeah, it did." she grinned broadly.

"How far along are you with that project for your old class?" he asked.

"I think I should be done in two days." El guessed. "One good thing about not able to have sex is the need to distract myself. And writing a rather interesting project is a good way to distract myself."

"It's interesting?"

"Very much so." she nodded. "It's an essay evaluating the validity of studying a person's use of words to ascertain if he or she is lying."

"Because someone who's making up a story sticks to the details without ever changing them, while someone recalling a true story sometimes adds details or leaves some out." Mike nodded. "I heard of that."

"What do you think about it?" she prompted him.

"I think it's good field. If law enforcement officers learn to recognize those tells, it completely mitigates the need for things like polygraphs." he told her. "Not that polygraphs are admissible in court anyway."

"But think about it, detectives interviewing suspects and able to tell if they're lying to them just by their stories." she said. "If a suspects story stays consistent but each retelling has a detail or two more or less, it's usually the truth. If the story is completely consistent without any changes in the amount of detail, it's a prepared story."

"Honey, I'm agreeing with you." he grinned.

"Oh." she realized. "Okay."

"Well, off you go, you have project to finish."

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" she pouted. "And here I thought you loved me."

"Nah, I'm just in for the sex but since that's not possible this week..." he sighed, trying to maintain a straight face when seeing her incredulous expression.

"You jerk!" she gaped. "I almost believed you!"

"You should have seen your face." he laughed and stepped in front of her, giving her a kiss on her still moping lips. "Love you."

"Yeah, yeah." she huffed.

Still shaking her head but unable to prevent a chuckle, she retreated into her room and sat down at her computer. She opened the primary copy of the project file, scrolling down to the last point she had written and reading it over to get back into the groove, so to speak. She read it over, then began typing again. Much like Mike, she kept typing for hours, the pages filling with words while he kept her fed with a delicious lunch when the time came. Only when the Real Housewives were coming on did she stop, returning into the living room to watch it on the big screen.

The next day was a copy the one before. Training in the morning, then running with Bella with breakfast on the way, both again meeting her father and his assistants in the same cafe they met them before. The more Jim joked about Mike being his future son-in-law, the more El thought the notion to be a great one, imagining herself being married to Mike and having children with him.

More writing on her part followed, Mike again making a delicious meal for lunch and when she needed a break, she found her sweetie stretched out on the couch, his arm under his head while his eyes were glued to the TV where a space battle was currently happening. She knew enough to recognize that it was the final battle of the Return of the Jedi.

"You know, some things always bugged me about this particular battle." she said, standing close to his head.

"What?" he asked.

"Well, the rebel fleet has, what, four of these cruisers?" she pointed to the ship before it was blown up by the Death Star.

"Actually, according to background information, they had fifteen of these and smaller ships as well." Mike told her.

"How big is the Imperial fleet?" she looked at him.

"Again, according to background information, Death Squadron at that time consisted of just over thirty Star Destroyers plus the Executor dreadnought." Mike replied.

"Even with the Emperor ordering his fleet not to engage, once the rebels engaged by themselves, they should have never won that battle." she argued.

"Don't forget the fighter complements of the ships." he shrugged.

"How many of those does a Star Destroyer carry?"

"The regular ones have six squadrons of twelve fighters each, the Executor has twice that." he told her.

"So, lets say thirty times six plus twelve, so a hundred and ninety-two squadrons times twelve, that comes to..." she tried to calculated in her head.

"Two thousand, three hundred and four." he helped her, having had this discussion before on fan sites and with his friends.

"That number of fighters." she nodded. "Shouldn't their number alone be enough to destroy a large rebel ship? And why the hell are they always bringing these unarmed transporters into battle?"

"I think it's usually best not to think too much about these things." he laughed and pulled her down, El shrieking at the surprise before laughing too, enjoying the physical contact. "God, I would love to have sex with you right now, you speaking Star Wars got me so turned on."

"I see." she giggled and turned around on him to straddle his groin, feeling his growing erection below her.

"That feels nice." he hummed as she ground on top of him, the friction making him painfully aware of what they couldn't do, though she didn't feel much better.

"Well, I'm off to my room to finish this project." she said as she suddenly got up.

"Wait, you can't leave me here like this." he whined, his erection pronounced under his clothes.

"I just have you for the sex but it's not possible yet, so..." she shrugged and left.

"Touche!" he called after her, laughing.

She sat down at her desk and started her laptop again, opening the file and skimming the words she had written until she had reached the end. She was only the final chapter away from being done, and it was more an afterword than actual facts having to be put down. Not that she needed to do the best job, but it wasn't in her to simply do some halfhearted things.

"You're so mean." Mike's voice startled her, her love standing behind her chair, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"You started it." she chuckled and leaned her head on his right hand. "Can you do me a favor?"

"Always." he nodded.

"Can you proofread this once I'm done?" she asked.

"Of course." he agreed. "How much is it?"

"Um..." she looked closer. "Forty-eight pages."

"No problem." he shrugged and began massaging her shoulders.

"Mh, that feels nice." she hummed and let her shoulders loosen.

"By the way, are you going to tell the professor that you wrote this?" he wanted to know. "Otherwise, this Simon might take all the credit, not that it would probably bother you since you're not there anymore."

"You know what?" she looked up at him. "You're right. I'm on good terms with the assistant professor, I'll call her, send her what I wrote per email and tell her about me leaving."

"You should also tell her that she shouldn't tell him that she knows, so she can see how much of your combined work actually comes from him." he suggested.

"Good idea." she giggled. "That jerk would probably take my work and produce it as his own."

"Do you have to defend it orally or give a report?"

"Yeah, but he'll have to do that alone." she confirmed. "I won't go to defend it."

"Well, you have fun with this, I'll go out with Bella on her run." he said and kissed her cheek.

"No, no, I wanna do it." she quickly stopped him.

"I thought you wanted to finish this project?" he wondered.

"But that will only take a few hours, I still need more distractions for today." she retorted and got up, changing into some more proper street clothes, some loose shorts and a tank top.

"Gah, you're mean." he groaned. "Changing clothes when not wearing a bra, knowing how that turns me on. Especially after what you did on the couch."

"Just more you can look forward to tomorrow." she winked and gave him a deep kiss before going back to the living room to take Bella's leash, the dog quickly coming to her and sitting down to allow El to put it on.

"Have fun." Mike chuckled.

"See you in an hour." El waved.

With a shake of his head, Mike walked into his room to sit down at his laptop to work on a pet project he had started a few months ago.

Meanwhile, El skated down the street, Bella running beside her, her tongue wagging out of her mouth to shed the excess heat the physical exercise was building up. El felt her heart rate go up as well, reveling in the exertion but keeping herself from speeding up too much, otherwise Bella might not be able to keep up for long.

"There she is." Simon said to Andrew, pointing his beer at El.

"With that damn dog again." Andrew nodded. "Any progress with your plan to get her?"

"Actually, what we're doing here is the plan." Simon chuckled.

"What, us drinking beer at various times during the day in this bar is part of that plan?" Andrew looked at him confused.

"When they go out with that dog, they're usually at least an hour away." Simon explained. "So the only thing I need to do is wait until her boyfriend is leaving with the dog without her and then I just need to knock on her door, tell her that I want to prepare for the oral report on our project and then I can make my move."

"And text me, so I can join you." Andrew clinked his glass. "I like it."

"Remember, I get her asshole first." Simon laughed.

"We still can't force her, her dad will kill us and make our bodies disappear." Andrew cautioned.

"There are ways for us to do this without her remembering." Simon winked, as an unaware El rolled on, not having noticed the two guys.

* * *

"Hey guys." Mike greeted his friends, their faces clumped up on the screen. "Are you home already?"

"Yeah, just arrived." Lucas nodded.

"How was the drive?" Mike wanted to know.

"Loooooong." Dustin wailed. "I thought we would drive off the edge of the world."

"Yeah, we all drove four hours each before changing drivers." Will nodded. "That let us drive through the night."

"Easy for you to say, you can sleep during a rock concert." Mike chuckled, remarking on Will's ability to take naps practically everywhere.

"Tell me about it." Dustin groaned. "Of the eight hours of break between drives, I maybe managed two hours of sleep."

"So, we're home." Lucas shrugged. "How about you?"

"I am home." Mike wondered what Lucas meant. "The girls aren't back though."

"Except El." Will grinned.

"Well, yeah, but she never left in the first place." Mike shrugged, seeing El exiting the bathroom in that moment.

"Not what we mean." Will chuckled.

"Then what do you mean." Mike smirked, knowing what his friends were referring to.

"Did you finally get your head out of your ass." Dustin clarified and in that moment, El sat down on the couch between Mike's legs, leaning back into his chest.

"Hey guys." she greeted them and leaning into Mike's chest.

"Yes!" Dustin gave a fist pump. "So you did get your heads out of your asses."

"Yeah, we did." El nodded and gave Mike a kiss on the chin, even though it hurt her neck to turn it so much. "In retrospect, we realized that we should have done it a lot earlier."

"Yeah, we all saw that." Will smiled. "Mike, when will we do the return game?"

"Poker or Dungeons and Dragons?"

"Both, actually." Will said.

"Well, the girls are supposed to be back in two days, we can play poker again then." El suggested. "Since it's still summer break for a while, we can do it during the week."

"Well, I don't have summer break, I begin my active duty in two weeks." Lucas said. "I'm getting a proper uniform and will be partnered with a veteran to learn the ropes on the street."

"Nice." Mike nodded. "Will you earn more money?"

"Yeah, I get a pay increase to what a usual first year police officer gets." Lucas nodded.

"Hey Mike, did you and El have sex yet?" Dustin threw in.

"Why would you care?" El gasped at his directness.

"I don't but my penis wanted to know."

"Seriously, Dustin?" Mike gave him a glare.

"Hey, I'm the only single in the party, I need to live vicariously through you and Lucas." Dustin argued.

"What about me?" Will interjected.

"Sorry, I don't get a spontaneous erection when seeing another guy's penis." Dustin shrugged.

"Fair enough." Will shrugged.

"But, if you really must know, yes, we did." El giggled.

"Mike, did you take pictures?"

"DUSTIN!" Mike shouted. "What's the matter with you?"

"He suffers from a combination of too little sleep and too many energy drinks." Will laughed. "Remember when we were kids and he ate half his Halloween haul that same night?"

"Jesus, yes!" Mike groaned.

"I wasn't that bad." Dustin defended himself.

"Dustin, you couldn't stop moving until three in the morning and then you commenced with your power vomiting." Mike retorted.

"Yeah, from then on it was known as the night the toilet cried." Lucas laughed.

"Shit, I totally forgot about that." Dustin palmed his face. "Thanks so much for reminding me."

"Our pleasure." Will bumped his back in sympathy.

"By the way, Mike, I'm invoking article four of our party rules." Dustin said.

"Buddy, there's no fourth article." Mike looked at him confused.

"You have party rules?" El asked all of them.

"Article one, friends don't lie." Lucas said.

"Article two, you draw first blood, you shake hands." Will took over.

"Article three, obey the rule of law or be banished from the party." Mike finished.

"Article four, if a lone party member stays single for an inordinate amount of time while the others are in relationships, the others must help him find a partner." Dustin added.

"When did that article get added?" Will wondered.

"Today, after I saw El sitting down between Mike's legs in a way that makes it seem they've been together for years." Dustin huffed.

"Uh hu." Mike deadpanned. "Any preferences?"

"Female, single, shouldn't be too much younger or older than me, not as heavy and not as tall." Dustin listed.

"Anything else?" Mike still deadpanned.

"Why the last two attributes?" El wanted to know.

"I wanna be able to carry her and when I hug her from behind, I wanna be able to still see something in front of us." Dustin shrugged. "For comparison's sake, imagine someone like Jennifer."

"My roommate Jennifer?" El looked at him questioningly.

"Yeah." Dustin nodded with a smile.

"If you say so." El chuckled, thinking about how much different Jennifer and Dustin were in their approach to relationships, at least she thought so regarding Dustin.

"Why not Stacy?" Mike inquired.

"I like straight hair more." Dustin shrugged. "Also, I thought it weird that when we played poker, El, Max and Jennifer had only a minimum or no makeup on while Stacy looked like she wanted to go to the opera."

"That's true." El laughed.

"Or like she was in the opera." Dustin added, causing El to laugh even more, her body bending forward and accidentally giving the guys a good look down her cleavage.

"Mike, you lucky duck." Dustin remarked as El lifted her body back up.

"What?" Mike wondered.

"El just gave us a peek at her goods." Will laughed.

"Shit." El gasped but still laughed at Dustin's joke, crossing her arms in front of her chest, her hands on her shoulders.

"Dustin, stop peeping at my girlfriend." Mike warned his friend with a smile.

"Hey, I can't help it, I'm a guy." Dustin defended himself. "Lucas looked too."

"Well, I'm a guy too." Lucas shrugged.

"I'm telling Max." El grinned.

"Oh god, please don't!" Lucas begged, panic settling into his eyes. "She'll kill me."

"Yep, she will." El laughed. "She'll probably rip your cock off with her bare hands."

"She'll rather gauge my eyes out." Lucas shuddered.

"Well guys, it was nice talking to you but me and Mike are going to enjoy our last evening alone before the girls come back." El said.

"Which means, you're going to have sex somewhere that's not either of your bedrooms." Lucas nodded in understanding, making El blush at the obviousness of her choice of words. "But please, promise me that you haven't done it in Max's bed."

"Why would we do that?" Mike shook his head in humor.

"Rest assured, we haven't done it in her room." El made it clearer. "Or in Stacy's or Jennifer's."

"Which means, you did it in every other room." Will grinned.

"Actually, we haven't done it in the bathroom yet." Mike laughed.

"So, you soiled the kitchen?" Dustin asked. "Next time we're visiting, tell us the surface you did it on so we can avoid touching it."

"Yeah, because we never clean the kitchen." El rolled her eyes.

"You'd be surprised." Dustin said. "In our kitchen, you can eat from the floor."

"It's that clean?" El asked.

"No, it's so much there to choose from." Dustin told her, all the guys keeping a straight face.

"EW!" El gagged after a few seconds of processing what she just heard before seeing the guys burst out laughing.

"You should have seen your face." Lucas guffawed.

"At least now I know where Mike got his twisted sense of humor." El huffed. "Bye guys."

"Bye El, see you soon for poker." Will waved before the screen went blank.

"So, finding Dustin a girlfriend." Mike hummed, his hands moving to El's chest, cupping her breasts. "You know someone?"

"Not really." El shrugged, leaning further back into his embrace. "Outside the girls, I barely interact with others, male or female."

"Lets ask the others when they return." Mike said and was about to pull up El's top when the door bell rang.

"Who could that be?" El wondered, getting up, so Mike could go to the door.

"Yes?" Mike asked the man wearing a courier uniform.

"Package for Mike Wheeler?" the man inquired about Mike's identity.

"That's me." Mike told him.

"Sorry, but I need to see some ID, it was mandated by the client." the man said.

"Alright, wait here." Mike shrugged and went into his room to get his walled, opening it to reveal his ID which he showed the courier after returning to the door.

"Thank you." the man nodded and handed Mike a package and held out his cellphone so Mike could sign for it with his finger.

"What did you get?" El asked, curious about the large box.

"A surprise for you." Mike smiled.

"For me?" El perked up.

"You and the other girls." Mike clarified and went towards his room. "Wait here."

He walked into his room and opened the box, revealing the four smaller boxes stacked on top of each other. Not opening the smaller boxes and hoping he wouldn't embarrass himself, he put a bow onto each box and wrote three identical cards for each, the only difference being the name he put on those.

He came back out and El was kneeling on the couch, her eyes following the man she loved while he carried four smaller packages with bows on top. She watched as he walked into the other hallway, entering the rooms of their roommates and reemerging from each room with one less box. He came back into the living room and handed her the last one, not letting go yet as she took it.

"I'm gonna tell you now the same thing I wrote on those cards for the other boxes." he said. "Under no circumstances are you allowed to talk about the contents of this package with anyone outside of the people living in this house. If anything of it shows up online, I will get into massive legal and also financial trouble."

"Okay." she nodded, the package suddenly something she felt the need to handle very delicately.

"Open it." he smiled and sat back down next to her.

She carefully pried the package open, using the prepared latch she remembered from the numerous packages she had received from Amazon in her life. Not knowing what was in it yet, she was hesitant to simply rip it open, not wanting to damage whatever was inside. When the package was finally open, it revealed a book, making her wonder why that was so important until she turned it around to look at the title and cover art.

"Oh my god!" she gasped, one hand over her mouth, the other starting to shake as if she was holding a delicate glass origami figurine.

"I had to work hard to convince Lisa to let me have four advance copies of it." Mike told her. "That's why it's so important you don't tell anyone and that you don't reveal details to anyone, especially online."

"The Mending Heart." she read the title. "By Marl Young."

"Yeah, the title is a bit too revealing for my taste but the publisher has the right to choose the title." Mike shrugged.

"I love it." she sniffed, feeling overwhelmed by the importance of the gift, the fact that he trusted her and their roommates enough to do this, making her melt inside.

"Well, read it first, then we'll see if you really do." he chuckled as she put the book down.

"I love you." she said, completely serious and took her top off before throwing herself at him, laying him out on the sofa and kissing him hard. "Listen, if you want to fuck my ass, feel free."

"Noted." he laughed, touched by her trust but deciding that he didn't need to do that today as his hand moved to her ass.

"I'm gonna ride you so hard." she promised and stood up to take off her shorts and underwear, Mike quickly getting rid of his own clothes when her glorious nakedness came into view.

* * *

**Well, their alone time is almost over.**

**Review please :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Managed to finish one for this one too. Starts exactly where the last one left off.**

**Enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and I write for my own pleasure and that of the readers.**

* * *

"There it is." she grinned and straddled him. "Lets continue with the project."

"Project?" he gasped as she lowered herself, feeling her tightness squeezing him.

"How often can you make me come before you do." she breathed into his ear and placed her feet on the couch before beginning to bounce hard.

"If you keep doing that, your project will result in zero." he groaned, wondering how he could still joke.

"Give yourself some credit." she managed to say through clenched teeth while feeling his penis rub over that particular sensitive spot inside her.

It took four minutes for her to climax. She was bouncing and bouncing and suddenly, she was screaming into his ear and staying down, her body shaking from orgasmic bliss. She had had orgasms before from touching herself and then she got the ones from his tongue but those were mostly the same since they brought it on the same way but these orgasms from him being inside her were something different, a lot more intense.

"Shit!" she cursed, the shaking finally subsiding, sitting up to change the angle.

"Alright, one." he chuckled, grabbing El's hips to get her to move again.

"I'm back!" Max shouted as she walked into the house but was greeted by the image of her best friend on the couch, bouncing on the largest cock she had ever seen in real life. "Jesus Christ!"

"Max?" El shrieked in shock and pressed herself down, Mike wrapping his arms around her to pull her against him but his hips kept thrusting upwards on their own. "What are you doing back already?"

"Aw, thanks for the warm welcome home." Max cooed, smirking as Bella ran over to greet her. "I've missed you guys too."

"Max, please leave the room." El pleaded.

"But we have so much to talk about." Max grinned as she sat down on the armchair. "For example, since when are you guys an item, why didn't you write me a message to tell me when it happened and how the hell is his huge cock fitting into you?!"

"I'll answer all your questions if you just leave us alone." El grumbled and saw Max lean back, a huge grin on her face. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Remember when you all laughed when Jennifer told you how me and Lucas sound in the bedroom?" Max asked.

"Excuse us." Mike finally spoke up and sat up, bringing El up with him and then stood up, still buried inside his girlfriend.

"Oh shit! SHIT! MIKE!" El yelled when he began walking while he pushed her down with his steps, his manhood punching against her g-spot. "I'm coming!"

"Seriously, he makes you come just by walking?" Max shouted after them.

"Yes, he's just that good!" El shouted back just as the door closed.

"Damn." Max whispered and grabbed her phone to call her boyfriend. "Hey Stalker?"

"Max." Lucas said eagerly. "Are you on your way back?"

"I just got in." Max told him. "Came back a day early when I got your message that you guys were home."

"Cool." Lucas smiled.

"Stalker, get your ass to my place." Max said into the phone. "I desperately need a good fuck and you will never believe what has happened here."

"Be there in twenty." Lucas said and hung up the phone.

Max walked to Mike's door and listened, curious as to how these two sounded, if they were as loud as Jennifer said she and Lucas were. Her eyes went wide when she heard El yell, completely disbelieving of the fact that her usually so reserved roommate and friend was such an animal in the sack. Before she realized it, a knock on the door announced the arrival of her boyfriend.

"Hey there, I'm..." Lucas began but was silenced by her lips.

"Come with me but be quiet!" she hissed at him and pulled him to Mike's door.

"What are we doing back here?" he whispered.

"Listen." Max pointed to the door and Lucas put his ear against it

"Oh god! Oh fuck! FUCK! YES, POUND THAT PUSSY HARD! I'M COMING AGAIN!" they could hear El scream.

"Jesus, is that El?" Lucas gasped. "Damn, these two get it on."

"You know about them?" Max gave him a look. "You knew and you didn't tell me?"

"Learned it earlier today." Lucas nodded.

"Come on stalker." Max grabbed his hand. "After a month without your dick inside me, I spent the last fifteen minutes listening to my best friend getting impaled by Mike's enormous cock, I desperately need yours now."

"Is it bigger than mine?" Lucas asked as they walked to her room.

"Yes." she nodded and dropped her pants and underwear before getting on all fours. "Now take out your dick and pound my pussy into oblivion."

"Yes, mam." Lucas grinned wickedly and proceeded to do exactly that.

"Alright, so Max knows now." Mike chuckled.

"Ugh." El groaned, turning onto her stomach and burying her face into his pillow. "Well, at least she understands."

"I never would have thought that she'd simply sit down while we're having sex." he winced at the memory.

"And I never would have thought that me being flat on the bed with a pillow under my crotch while you do me from behind would give me the strongest orgasms yet." she chuckled. "So, we're at six."

"You came six times?" he asked, feeling smug.

"Once on the couch, once while you carried me and four times in here." she nodded, moaning as she stretched. "Damn, your cock is enormous."

"And somehow, it fits completely inside you." he grinned, laying down as well and spooning her.

"I still don't know how that's possible." she mused.

"Tight is a stretchy term." he winked at her from his place at the laptop.

"What are you doing?" she asked, turning around and sitting up, not bothering to put on clothes, given that he was still naked himself. "Writing book three already?"

"No, I'm not even done plotting the story line for that one." he shook his head. "This is a pet project of mine, a fantasy novel."

"Fantasy?" she looked at the text on the screen. "As in dragons and orcs?"

"And firearms." he nodded. "I read a lot of fantasy books in my childhood but I always wondered how a fantasy world like for example the Dungeons and Dragons universe would be when firearms were part of it."

"Well, battles would be less suspenseful when the hero sprays his enemies charging him with bullets." El pointed out.

"Yes, but I was thinking about firearms technology that is at the beginning of its developmental stage." he shrugged.

"So, muskets?"

"And maybe cannons." he said. "To be honest, it's not a new idea."

"Yes!" she realized. "I knew why this concept sounded so familiar. What was his name... uh... Michael something... Greenpole?"

"Stackpole." he nodded. "I'm falling in love with you even more now."

"Let me guess, you have the book I'm thinking of?" she giggled.

"Books." he smiled. "It's a four book series called The Dragon Crown War."

"Speaking of books." she remembered and opened the door.

She listened for noises, and when she couldn't hear any, she quietly slipped out of the room and into the living room. She quickly snagged her new, shiny hardcover copy of The Mending Heart, along with their clothes that had ended up on top of it, which was the reason that Max hadn't seen it but maybe she wouldn't have noticed it either way since the back cover didn't had the title on it and would have to be picked up to read, given the small print.

As she was about to return, she heard a familiar banging from from the other hallway. A few quick steps brought her to Max's door and after putting her ear to the wood, she could only smile hearing Max's mewl, so different from her usual badass attitude. She was about to return Max's earlier favor and go into her room to interrupt them but before she could do that, she became aware again that she was still naked and she quickly ran back into Mike's room.

"Got your treasure?" he chuckled.

"Yep." she giggled and jumped on his bed. "And I went by Max's room."

"Why?"

"I wanted to interrupt them like she did with us." she shrugged.

"Did you?"

"No, I remembered that I was naked." she grinned.

"Also, when she interrupted us, we were doing it on the not so private couch in the not so private living room." he pointed out.

"Pff, details." she waved him off and grabbed the book. "Mind if I read for a bit?"

"Why would I?" he looked at her confused. "Would also give me the time to develop the story for book three."

"I promise not to try to pry." she grinned. "I really wanna be surprised when the third gets released."

El began reading, the sound of fingers hammering letters on a keyboard a background noise that she soon blocked out after reading the first ten pages, the story completely sucking her in. Familiar characters appeared as well as new ones, the flow of words equally familiar from the book that came before. She made sure to read each word, not just skim over the sentences, otherwise she might finish the book in a few days and she wanted to enjoy it for as long as possible.

It came almost as a surprise when Mike joined her in bed, his long arms going around her waist and holding her tight to him. With a smile, she put a bookmark between the pages she had been on and placed it on the nightstand, shutting off the light and closing her eyes.

* * *

Waking up with a wince, Max looked around her room, seeing the morning light come through her windows. A quick clock check confirmed her fears, that it was only just after eight, way too early for getting up on a day she didn't have to get up early on. Lucas was still quietly snoring behind her and while she would have loved to close her eyes again, her bladder had different ideas. As she got up, she winced slightly, the familiar but not painful soreness a testament to what they did the night before and she threw a shirt over her body that covered all the essentials so she could safely leave the room.

After using the bathroom, Max was heading back to her room, finding Lucas rubbing his face and opening his mouth a few times in the familiar motion of someone who's trying to loosen his jaw. Come to think of it, she had something to do with this particular inconvenience, given how hard she had ridden his face during their several bouts of lovemaking.

"Morning." Lucas yawned.

"Good morning." Max grinned evilly.

"Oh no!" Lucas groaned and pulled the comforter over his head. "Max, I don't think it will work again for a while after last night."

"Don't be a pussy and fuck mine." she laughed and pulled the comforter away from him, revealing his naked form but before she could climb on the bed to take his dick into her mouth, she noticed a package with a bow on it on her table. "Aw, did you get me a present?"

"Uh... no." Lucas looked confused, craning his neck to look at it. "When could I have done that?"

"Huh." Max walked over to it and took the card next to the bow.

"Who's it from?" Lucas asked.

"Under no circumstances are you allowed to talk about the contents of this package with anyone outside of the people living in this house. If anything of it shows up online, I will get into massive legal and also financial trouble." she read out loud. "Weird."

"Open it." Lucas prompted and Max did exactly that, revealing something that made her eyes go wide and her breath hitch.

"Oh my god!" she shrieked.

"What is it?" Lucas asked again but Max had already run out of the room.

She quickly crossed the living room and passed a confused looking Bella, who probably wondered why one of her owners was in such a hurry. Max ignored the dog and entered the hallway leading to Mike and El's room, passing her landlady's empty one and put her hand on the door handle of Mike's, opening it to find her friends on the bed, El on her back with her legs spread while Mike was on top, thrusting into her.

"Max, what the hell are you doing?" El shrieked, her arms flailing to find something to cover her breasts while Mike barely noticed the redhead and kept thrusting.

"I love you!" Max shouted and grabbed Mike's head, pressing kisses to his cheek and every other part she could get her lips on. "I love you, I love you, I love you!"

"What the...?" Mike became aware of her presence and tried to get his head out her grasp. "Max, what are you doing?"

"I love you!" Max shouted again and pressed a kiss to his lips before letting him go and running back to the door, turning around to look at him a final time. "I love you!"

"What the hell was that?" Mike asked rhetorically after Max had slammed the door shut again.

"I think she found your little present for her." El couldn't help but laugh.

"Jesus." Mike started laughing with her and buried his head against her shoulder. "Wanna continue?"

"You're still inside me, so yeah." El nodded, putting her arms around his neck again.

"Did I just hear you proclaim your love for my best friend?" Lucas asked a returning Max, who took the copy of The Mending Heart, the sequel novel to the one on her bookshelf.

"Yes." Max nodded absentmindedly, opening the cover and reading the author's foreword.

"Do I need to pack my things?" Lucas wondered, only half-joking, since he sometimes didn't know with Max.

"Oh yeah, you need to leave now." she nodded theatrically. "My body belongs to Mike now to use as he sees fit.

"You do know he's with El, right?" Lucas grinned.

"I have no problem with that, I'm willing to share." Max shrugged, grinning back.

"Is that book so important?"

"It's the sequel to my favorite book, so what do you think?" Max gave him a poignant look and put the book down before taking off the shirt she had put on to go to the bathroom.

"Max, I truly don't think I can." Lucas groaned, but his penis betrayed him when seeing her naked body.

"Little Lucas says otherwise." she winked and climbed on the bed. "Now shut up and lick my pussy."

"My poor jaw." Lucas whined but any other word was swallowed by her body pressing on his mouth as she sat down on him, bending over and taking his penis into her mouth.

"Hey Lucas." Mike waved to his friend, who came into the living room with a weird gait. "Broke your pelvis?"

"Ugh, shut up." Lucas winced, sitting down on one of the chairs at the breakfast table. "May I?"

"Sure." Mike nodded, Lucas taking a bun, cutting it open and spreading jam on it while Mike poured him a cup of coffee.

"Where's Max?" El asked.

"Getting dressed." Lucas told her, just as the redhead appeared.

"Good morning, my love." Max grinned and, to El's surprise, gave Mike a kiss on the cheek before nodding at her boyfriend. "Lucas."

"See what you did?" Lucas grumbled, pointing a finger at Mike. "You and your book."

"Stop complaining, you got lots of sex out of it." Mike laughed.

"She called me black Mike this morning." Lucas whined, Max and El laughing heartily at that.

"Sorry." Mike grinned. "Max, give me back the book."

"Over my dead body." Max singsonged and sat down next to Lucas. "Black Mike, can you hand me the coffee pot?"

"See what I mean?" Lucas huffed but did as she asked. "So, what if I begin calling you redhead El from now on?"

"That would be weird, wouldn't it?" Max looked confused at him.

"That would be weird?" Lucas gasped and El and Mike couldn't stop themselves from guffawing.

"Lucas, she's playing with you." Mike laughed.

"Mike, when Lucas has left, you and me, your bedroom, without clothes." Max winked.

"Over my dead body." El singsonged this time.

"Well, you can join us." Max shrugged.

"Lucas, she's kidding." Mike calmed his friend. "Even if she wasn't, I wouldn't do it."

"You wouldn't want to get it on with this?" Max breathed seductively, standing up and running her hand over her body.

"If you were single and El wasn't in the picture, sure." Mike shrugged. "But since you're not and I am with the woman I love, no thanks."

"That hurts my feelings." Max moped.

"You just wait, I'm getting my service weapon soon." Lucas gave a mock threat to Mike.

"You just wait, her dad will be your boss's boss." Mike grinned back.

"Oh shit, you're right." Lucas' eyes went wide and stood up, getting behind Mike and wrapping his arms around his friend's shoulders. "Buddy, I love you."

"I love you too." Mike laughed, letting Lucas hug him. "Max, how was your vacation?"

"Very nice." Max nodded. "I love spending time with my folks."

"You could go there more often, can't you?" Mike wondered. "I mean, they're what, a four hours drive away?"

"True, but I don't have the time that often, when school goes on, I have enough to do on the weekends." Max argued. "Then there's Lucas, of course. If I can only spend time with him on weekends, I wouldn't want to drive to my folks every weekend as well."

"Now you could do that though. Since I'm going to be a real cop soon, I'll have weekend shifts as well." Lucas threw in.

"You're right, I could visit my grandparents for a weekend or two." Max nodded. "Now, on to the more important issue."

"Which is?" El asked.

"The same questions I asked yesterday." Max winked. "All of them."

"Max." El groaned, putting her face into her hands.

"Tut tut tut." Max wiggled her finger. "You're not getting out of this. You broke the BFF rule."

"What's the BFF rule?" Lucas wondered.

"Best friends have to tell each other every detail of their lives as soon as they happen." Max said.

"Since when?" El asked.

"El, remember when I told you about my first time with Lucas, where it happened and how long his cock is?" Max asked her best friend.

"You told her that?" Lucas gave an almost girly shriek.

"In my defense, I didn't ask about that particular detail." El lifted her hands in surrender. "Max..."

"Nah uh uh." Max stopped her right away. "Spill..."

"But..." El tried again, looking to Mike for help.

"Lucas, lets continue our breakfast in the kitchen." Mike said, understanding and taking his bowl of cereal, along with the coffee can. "Give them some privacy."

"Yeah, the kitchen sounds really inviting now, even though you and El had sex in there." Lucas nodded.

"You did what?!" Max shrieked, looking at El, who blushed. "Girl, spill, right now!"

"Max, why are you doing this to me?" El sighed after the guys had left the room.

"Because I saw you bouncing on Mike's rather huge cock." Max grinned. "I wanna know everything."

"Fine." El huffed. "The day after you guys left for your families, the AC broke. The repairman couldn't come for a week, so I resorted to walking around in my underwear inside the house. Mike came back after four days because his father pissed him off. And we... bonded, so to speak."

"You mean, he saw you in your underwear and therefore in a completely new, horny light?" Max grinned.

"I have no idea." El shrugged. "After he told me about his dad, I wanted to do something good for him, so I offered him vodka. We both emptied a bottle and during our drunken stupor..."

"You had sex?" Max interjected.

"No, but we told each other some things about each other." El shook her head. "For example, I know now how Mike lost his virginity."

"Can you tell me?"

"No, I won't betray his trust."

"Fine." Max grumbled. "Go on."

"I told him we shaved each other's pussies when we were fifteen." El smirked at the memory. "And that I do it to this day. And I put his hand on it."

"Wait, you made him touch your pussy?" Max gasped. "El, you're an animal!"

"I still had my underwear on." El argued. "Anyway, I passed out quickly after that and he brought me to bed, put some stuff for me on the nightstand and a bucket next to the bed."

"Did you need it?"

"Oh yeah." El winced. "Woke up with the worst hangover. Then he made me a breakfast that helped with the pain and later, we went out to shop for lunch, meeting my dad on the way. On our way back, we got into a sudden heavy rainstorm and I got sick. Mike nursed me and made me healthy again."

"Nice." Max grinned.

"Anyway, the next day, I still felt the aftereffects of the slight cold I had and I slept until the evening. Mike went out with Bella and suddenly, Simon was at the door."

"Wait, that creep came here?" Max gasped.

"Yeah, allegedly to work on that project we've been assigned before summer break." El nodded. "Anyway, ten minutes into the work, he asked about me being a virgin."

"Jesus!" Max groaned. "Could he be any more obvious?"

"Mike came back that moment and I managed to convey to him to play my boyfriend to get Simon off my back." El continued. "Simon left and I was so thankful that I changed into my underwear again and..."

"And?" Max looked wide-eyed at her friend. "Come on, don't leave me hanging!"

"I did... a little..."

"A little...?" Max prompted.

"Dance." El almost whispered.

"El!" Max shrieked and ran to hug her. "You did a striptease? I'm so proud of you!"

"Well, I didn't strip!" El argued. "But Mike pulled me into his lap and then I simply couldn't stop myself and kissed him. He kissed me back, carried me into his bedroom, we continued kissing for another six hours before I told him to have sex with me."

"I knew it, the calmest waters are always the deepest." Max whooped.

"Well, have you seen Mike?" El spluttered.

"I did." Max nodded. "All of him."

"I'm not sharing him." El poked out her tongue. "He's mine and mine alone."

"Aw, no threesome?" Max moped. "We could swap partners."

"Max, seriously, no!" El gasped, wondering if she was Max meant it as a joke or not.

"I'm kidding." Max laughed. "What else happened in the three weeks you two were alone?"

"Well, I now know how you feel when you have your period." El chuckled sadly. "God, I was horny that week."

"And you were laughing at me behind my back." Max told her. "Don't act like you didn't, I heard the snickering."

"Sorry about that." El grinned. "Mike is teaching me Tai Chi."

"That meditation thing?" Max asked. "Nice."

"And I enrolled at Stanford to continue my psychology studies." El finished.

"Wait, what?" Max gasped. "You're leaving Cañada?"

"Yeah, I realized that the courses offered at Stanford are so much better." El shrugged.

"But how can you afford that?"

"Mike is loaning me the money. Without interest." El told her.

"Ah, so you're repaying him with sex?" Max grinned.

"Max, no!" El was indignant. "I'm not a prostitute. He's now living here rent free and what he paid will be my monthly repayment."

"That's so nice of him." Max smiled.

"The sex is free." El poked out her tongue, causing Max to laugh.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Lucas asked, the two men hearing Max's laughter.

"They're probably sharing secrets about us." Mike shrugged. "So, poker night?"

"I'm game." Lucas nodded. "When will the other two girls be back?"

"They should return today or tomorrow." Mike said. "Since all of them left at the same day and all planned for a month, it's mostly just travel time that separates them. Which means, Jennifer should be back last, since she's returning from Vermont."

"So, we should look at tomorrow or the day after?" Lucas asked.

"I think so." Mike nodded. "Also, I thought that we could play Dungeons and Dragons here, the living room table is bigger than the one you guys have."

"Yeah, that would be great." Lucas agreed.

"I'll ask the girls when they're all here again if they're okay with it." Mike told him.

"I need to ask." Lucas thought about something. "Who made the first move?"

"Excuse me?"

"The move." Lucas repeated. "Was it you or El?"

"It was her." Mike grinned at the memory. "And she did it in a way I'd have never expected, and we'll leave it at that."

"Pff, fine." Lucas huffed and finished his breakfast, waiting for the permission to return to the living room.

It took another two hours.

* * *

**Filler chapter. I seem to be good at those :D**

**Review please :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Managed to finish one for this one too. Starts exactly where the last one left off. Was a bit tough, I have a really persistent cough and that bugs the hell out of me :(**

**Enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and I write for my own pleasure and that of the readers.**

* * *

"It's so weird." El chuckled, sitting in Mike's lap, both watching TV.

"What is?" he wondered.

"That you and I can sit here while Bella isn't here." she smiled.

"It's nice that Max and Lucas took her out for once." Mike nodded. "When Stacy and Jennifer are back, they can take her out too."

"They're back early." El said when she heard a key in the lock and got up to check the dog food dispenser.

"I'm baaaack!" Stacy shouted from the door, El stopping dead in her tracks and turning to go hug her friend.

"Welcome home." El smiled.

"Hey Mike." Stacy waved at him.

"Hey Stacy." Mike waved back. "Had fun in Texas?"

"Boy, did I!" Stacy giggled and let her luggage fall to the floor before flopping down on one of the armchairs.

"I would have thought your first action after returning would be to call Troy." El chuckled.

"Nah, I dumped him." Stacy shrugged.

"Finally!" El sighed in relief.

"What made you decide to?" Mike asked.

"The day after I arrived in Texas, I called him for a video chat on my phone." Stacy began. "Apparently, he didn't see that and simply accepted the call and he held the phone against his ear."

"Okay." El hesitated. "And that was reason for you to dump him?"

"No, the reason was what the camera on the back of his phone filmed when he was talking into it." Stacy huffed. "I was given a good look at a naked Charlotte Stevens sleeping on his bed."

"No way, Charlotte Stevens?" El gasped. "Isn't her boyfriend on the basketball team?"

"Yeah." Stacy nodded. "I sent the guy a text, asking when he and Charlotte broke up now that she was fucking my now ex-boyfriend. Didn't get an answer though."

"You're evil." Mike laughed. "I'm sorry that your vacation had that cloud hanging over you."

"No need." Stacy grinned. "I met the cutest guy in the world that day."

"Seriously?" El looked at her.

"Yeah, my parents hired Eduardo to clean their pool and we got to talking when my parents were busy in town. And boy, he was an amazing fuck. Troy never made me come so much."

"Unbelievable." El chuckled.

"Am I the second one back?" Stacy asked.

"No, Max is already here, she's out with Lucas and Bella." Mike told her.

"Ah, I wondered where the dog was." Stacy nodded and got up. "Well, I'm off to my room to unpack my things."

As Stacy grabbed her luggage and walked towards her room, El went into the kitchen, refilling the food dispenser and taking a bottle of juice out of the fridge, taking it back into the living room. When she was about to sit back down on Mike's lap, they heard an excited scream coming from her room, both grinning when they heard it.

"I think she opened your little present for her." El grinned.

"I love you! I love you! I love you!" Stacy shouted as she ran out of her room, straight to Mike.

"Here we go." Mike sighed an waited for the inevitable, El only grinning and curious to see what Stacy would do.

To both their surprise, Stacy did something neither of them knew she was able to. She put her hands on the couch behind Mike's head and jumped up, doing a somersault in the air and pivoting a hundred and eighty degrees before dropping down to end up in Mike's lap, El seeing him grunting in surprise as her thighs hit is and luckily, Stacy hadn't fallen on her boyfriend's testicles.

Mike clenched his lips together as Stacy began peppering kisses on his face, much like Max had done. El could only shake her head, wondering if Jennifer would have a similar reaction than the others. Then again, come to think of it, El herself had reacted the same way, kissing him and then having sex with him that Max had then interrupted. But Stacy did something Max hadn't done. To El's shock, her friend, in a span of six seconds, took off her shirt and bra and pressed her boyfriend's face against her chest, Mike expressing his shock at the sudden move.

"WHOA!" El shouted and ran to the two, pulling Stacy's hair to get her roommate, and especially her tits, away from Mike's face. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Oh, shit, I'm so sorry." Stacy gasped, looking at El and getting up but not putting her clothes back on. "Come on, Mike, lets go!"

"What?" Mike wondered, his arm being pulled by Stacy but she was unable to pull his larger weight off the couch. "Lets go where?"

"To my room, I'm gonna blow and ride your brains out!" Stacy giggled, still trying to get him off of the couch.

"Oh, I think my girlfriend would be very mad, if I did that." Mike chuckled, his statement making Stacy stop trying to pull him up.

"You have a girlfriend?" Stacy gasped. "Since when? And who is it?"

"For a bit more than three weeks and as for her identity, it's your landlady who is standing over there with your bra and shirt in hand while scowling at you." Mike pointed behind Stacy.

"Uh..." Stacy did a great impression of a fish, seeing El giving her a death glare and her clothes in her friend's outstretched hand.

"Put on your clothes." El said, still glaring at Stacy, who quickly took the bra and put it back on, followed by the shirt.

"Congratulations." Stacy whooped and hugged El, who didn't hug back, both from shock and still present anger. "How did it happen?"

"We got closer, we got together." El huffed.

"I'm really sorry, El." Stacy was contrite.

"You're forgiven, this time." El couldn't stop herself from smiling.

"Mike, if you and El don't work out, just remember that you have a willing pussy waiting for your cock." Stacy winked at Mike.

"STACY!" El gasped. "Seriously, you're one foot out the door."

"I'm kidding." Stacy grinned.

"No, you're not." El stated.

"No, I'm not." Stacy admitted. "But I won't try anything as long as you're with him. And not just because you would hurt me if I did. I'm not scared of you."

"Yes, you are." El took a step closer to Stacy.

"Okay, I am." Stacy laughed. "Can I go now?"

"Leave." El nodded.

"Alright, Max kissed me and Stacy tried to make me swallow her breasts, I wonder what Jennifer will do when she sees her copy of the book." Mike chuckled after Stacy had gone.

"Ugh, I don't want to think about that." El huffed, sitting down next to him. "Would you have slept with her?"

"If you weren't in the picture, probably." he shrugged. "She is a pretty girl and I'm just a guy."

"Remind me to get uglier friends." she moped.

"No need, you're the only one I want." he grinned, putting his arms around her and pulling her against his side.

"Even though her breasts are bigger?" El referred to her brunette roommate.

"Would you stop!" Mike rolled his eyes. "I don't care about breast sizes. I think you're more beautiful than Stacey since she always slats on so much makeup that I'm almost afraid of what she looks like beneath."

"It's actually not that bad." El chuckled. "But I keep wondering sometimes if she has a different face underneath all that paint."

"Ouch, that's rude." he laughed.

"Yeah, it kinda is." she admitted.

"We're back!" Lucas announced, entering the house again with Bella and Max.

"El, do you know that Simon and Andrew are sitting at the bar across the street?" Max asked.

"Yeah, I've seen them a few times when I or we went out with Bella." El nodded. "They seem to frequent it a lot."

"Kinda strange that two students on a budget frequent such a high brow bar, isn't it?" Mike wondered. "Especially during the day."

"Maybe they're tired of your constant rejections?" Max suggested.

"What, you think they're scoping out the house because they wanna break in and rape her?" Lucas gasped.

"It's a possibility." Max shrugged.

"Jesus, what a way to make me feel good." El huffed. "Thanks a lot."

"Hey, just be careful." Max lifted her hands in surrender.

"Don't worry, Mike's been teaching me Tai Chi and self defense, remember?"

"Did you tell her about the sciatic nerve?" Lucas grinned.

"The what?" Mike looked confused at his friend.

"It runs from the shin up the leg." Lucas explained.

"Well, Mike told me that I should drag my heel down an attacker's shin because it causes pain." El shrugged.

"That's the reason." Lucas winked.

"How do you know what it's called?" Mike wanted to know.

"Hey, they don't just teach us to shoot at the police academy." Lucas laughed. "They also teach us some self defense techniques and explain why those work."

"Yeah, well, leg anatomy is not a focus in my studies." Mike chuckled. "We focus on the brain."

"Yet he knows exactly why bananas, melons and eggs help with hangovers." El grinned, dropping a kiss on his cheek.

"Hey, a hangover happens in the brain." Mike shrugged.

"Nothing for lunch?" Lucas looked around.

"It's already on the stove." Mike chuckled.

"Oh, what are we having?" Max asked.

"Stuffed cabbage with potatoes." Mike replied. "But this time, the stuffed cabbage is the frozen stuff, I didn't roll them myself."

"That's quite a change given that you only use pancake batter mix from the carton in emergencies." Max grinned.

"Well, that's true, but the frozen cabbage is actually pretty good." Mike winked at her. "You just have to make sure it doesn't burn."

"How do you do that, actually?" Lucas wanted to know. "I tried often to fry some stuff but a part of it always gets burned."

"The key is to lower the stove setting." Mike told him. "Only have it on full until the oil or butter or whatever you use is hot enough but as soon as you put the food into the pan, lower the setting and put a lid on the pan."

"And that keeps food from burning?"

"Only up to a point." Mike shook his head. "In this case, you need to turn the cabbage around to fry the other side and after about five minutes for each side, you pour vegetable stock on it, boiled in water of course to cook the cabbage in it and of course to have a sauce for the food."

"Sounds tasty." Max said. "Enough for all of us?"

"I made six, enough for us and leaving one for Jennifer if she's back by tonight." Mike nodded. "And enough potatoes to go with it."

"When will it be done?" Lucas asked.

"Five minutes, give or take." Mike shrugged. "The cabbage takes forty-five minutes, so I waited cooking the potatoes until fifteen minutes in, enough for the water to boil and the potatoes to cook so both things are done at the same time."

"Yep, he can cook and he's all mine." El grinned, hugging her sweetie and giving him a kiss.

"Mike?" Stacy appeared from her room. "Oh, hey Max."

"Hey, girl." Max hugged her roommate. "How was your vacation?"

"Oh you know." Stacy shrugged. "Found out Troy cheated on me, dumped him, met a cute guy and had amazing sex with him."

"So, your typical vacation then." Max nodded sarcastically. "But dumping Troy? I can only say, finally!"

"He wasn't that bad." Stacy huffed.

"He was!" both El and Max said in unison.

"He always leered at me and he touched El's ass while you were sitting on the couch." Max added.

"He touched your ass?" Mike gasped. "Where is he and how does he look like? I'm gonna kick his rear end."

"No worries, I kicked him in the nuts for it and banned him from the house." El chuckled and kissed Mike again. "Thank you though, my chivalrous knight."

"Stacy, what is it that you wanted?" Mike asked.

"I wanted..." Stacy began but her face turned thoughtful. "Crap, I forgot what I wanted."

"Then it wasn't important. If it was, it'll come back to you." Mike shrugged and got up. "Everybody sit down at the table, I'm gonna bring out lunch."

"Need some help?" El asked.

"Yeah, you can bring the plates out." Mike nodded and walked into the kitchen, where he handed El five plates and an equal amount of cutlery.

"Oh, that looks great." Stacy commented when Mike put down the tray with the pot of potatoes and the pan with the stuffed cabbage in it.

"Is that a tooth pick in there?" Lucas asked, looking at the one Mike put on his plate.

"Yes, they're used to keep them together." Mike nodded. "When I make them myself, I use small pikes out of metal because they can be reused."

Mike finished putting potatoes and one piece of stuffed cabbage on each person's plate and ladled sauce on it, leaving enough in the pan to be enough for Jennifer if she wanted to eat hers. He brought the pot and pan back into the kitchen, pouring the remaining sauce and the one piece of cabbage into a smaller pot to store it in the fridge before cleaning the pot and pan.

"Tastes great." Max commented when Mike returned, the redhead taking her first bite. "Black Mike, why can't you cook like that?"

"Seriously?" Lucas mumbled, his mouth full, seeing Max laugh at his facial expression.

"Black Mike?" Stacy wondered.

"When she found Mike's present for her, she kissed him and then began calling him Black Mike." El grinned.

"To annoy me." Lucas moped.

"You're still my stud." Max grinned too and kissed her boyfriend. "But if El and Mike ever separate, you're out the door."

"And these are the sentences where I can't really decide if she's joking or not." Lucas sighed.

"Well, he doesn't need to worry because I wouldn't want to risk our friendship by dating his ex." Mike added.

"You wouldn't date me?" Max asked.

"It would depend on why you and Lucas split." Mike shrugged. "If you dumped him for me and we began dating, I'd know that my friendship with Lucas would be over. If you two split for some other reason, I would maybe date you somewhere down the line but our continued friendship would also depend on how you two split. Was it amicably or was it a bad breakup."

"Ugh, forget it, dating a psychologist is too weird." Max waved him off. "Casual sex it is."

"Hey!" Lucas gasped.

"Don't worry Lucas, if Max ever approached Mike for casual sex, I'll kill her." El smiled at Lucas. "And depending on how Mike reacts to it, I might keep him alive but make a Varys out of him."

"A Varys?" Stacy looked confused.

"Varys?" El looked as if Stacy had two heads. "The eunuch from Game of Thrones?"

"Oh, yeah, never watched that show regularly." Stacy nodded.

"Heathen!" Mike gasped. "Seriously, how can you watch Real Housewives but not Game of Thrones?"

"Because Housewives is great." Stacy poked out her tongue.

"It is!" El and Max laughed.

"Lucas, remind me to join you for gaming night when they do another Housewives marathon."

"They're doing marathons of that show?" Lucas wondered.

"Yeah, since we can't always watch it, we DVR it." Max nodded.

"And boy, is that a nightmare for a refined movie palate like mine." Mike sighed.

"Refined?" El scoffed, but grinned. "Star Wars, Star Wars, Star Wars, interspersed with Star Trek, then some Lord of the Rings, then Star Wars again, followed by Star Wars and maybe some superhero movies and shows on TV. Capped off by Star Wars."

"What's your point?" Mike looked innocently at her, keeping his face straight.

"Seriously?" El's eyes went wide but then saw Mike lips twitch. "Pah!"

"Love you." he laughed and pressed a kiss onto her lips.

"El, can I make a suggestion?" Stacy asked.

"Sure." El nodded.

"Could we get a pool for the backyard?"

"I'm sorry?" El wondered.

"I mean, if we pool our money, could we get a pool?" Stacy repeated. "One that we can take down during winter if we need to."

"I don't know." El hesitated. "I think that should be discussed and decided by all five of us."

"We could do it when Jennifer is back." Stacy nodded.

"Why the sudden interest in a pool?" Mike asked and Stacy blushed.

"Wait a second." El had a feeling of why. "Didn't that cute guy you met in Texas clean your parents' pool?"

"Yeah, so?" Stacy looked at her innocently.

"Are you trying to repeat that here?" Mike chuckled. "You do realize that we wouldn't hire someone to clean that pool if we got it."

"That has nothing to do with it." Stacy defended her wish.

"Then it's probably because she had sex in the pool with the guy." Max scoffed, Stacy blushing hard when hearing it. "Ha, I knew it!"

"Shut up." Stacy moped.

"Girl's parents are out of the house, girl meets cute pool cleaner and has sex with him." Lucas said.

"Yeah, sounds like the plot of a porno movie." Mike agreed.

"Well, plot and porno movie are two things that really don't go together." Lucas remarked.

"You seem to be pretty well versed in porn to know that." Max squinted her eyes at him.

"Hey, I was a guy before I met you." Lucas grinned.

"And yet, you need so much instructions in bed." Max sighed.

"I don't need them, you just give them." Lucas retorted. "It's not as if I would stop moving just because you don't tell me to move."

"I want you to move in a certain way." Max shot back.

"Forward and back, in and out, is that so difficult?" Stacy laughed at the exchange.

"Oh crap, you're still here." Max gasped, realizing that they weren't alone.

"Why don't you take that discussion into the bedroom?" El suggested with a grin.

"No, not before tonight." Max shook her head. "Lucas is of the opinion that I was too hard on him last night and this morning."

"Shouldn't you be hard in her?" Mike winked.

"Shut up!" Lucas moped. "I'm always hard in her."

"Well..." Max grinned.

"Hey, that was a one time thing." Lucas quickly stopped her from talking.

"Three actually." Max winked at him.

"Ugh!" Lucas groaned. "Seriously, what did I ever do to you to deserve this?"

"You get to play with my lady parts, for that alone you have to bear this." Max stated.

"Alright, yeah." Lucas had to admit. "Your lady parts are fun to play with. Embarrass away."

"That one time, Lucas accidentally..." Max began talking.

"Hey!" Lucas interrupted. "That was a figure of speech."

"What did he do?" Stacy giggled.

"Max, I beg of you, don't." Lucas pleaded.

"Oh nothing, he just put his penis into a hole in my mattress instead of my pussy and he was coming quicker than he ever did with me because I was, quote 'tighter than ever before'." Max recounted, much to Lucas' mortification.

"Oh my god!" El laughed. "Seriously?"

"I was in the heat of the moment." Lucas argued.

"Yeah, was the mattress wet and warm inside?" Mike winked.

"Ugh, shut up!" Lucas grumbled. "Just wait until it happens to you."

"I doubt that this would happen." Mike shook his head. "For starters, I doubt El would keep a mattress with a penis-sized hole in it."

"You got that right." El grinned. "Furthermore, if he ever fucked my mattress and called it tighter than me, he wouldn't get to enjoy my lady parts for a few weeks at least."

"You're evil." Mike gasped. "It's hard enough to manage the one week you can't, especially when you are always ready to jump me."

"Ah, so she's learned how it is now." Stacy grinned.

"Hey, I thought we were making fun of Lucas." El moped.

"No, Lucas is done being made fun of." Lucas stated, getting up.

"At least for today." Max laughed, getting up as well. "Lucas and I will do a little shopping in San Fran, we'll see you later tonight."

"Bye!" El waved at them as they left.

"And thanks for cleaning up your plates." Mike said sarcastically.

"Oh, right. Uh, Mike, can you take care of our plates?" Lucas asked, giving him an apologetic smile.

"Sure, I'll be happy to." Mike deadpanned.

"Thanks, buddy." Lucas chuckled and left the house, Max right behind him once she had grabbed her purse.

"And I'm off to unpack and then enjoy my newest book." Stacy got up as well. "Mike, can you take care of my plate as well?"

"Sure." Mike sighed and got up, collecting the plates and the cutlery. "El, your housemates are all lazy."

"Hey, the day you moved in, you told us to stay out of the kitchen." Stacy poked out her tongue.

"Nice, twisting the meaning of my words to excuse your laziness." Mike chuckled.

The afternoon went the usual way. El and Mike cuddled on the couch, watching TV and fooling around that didn't further than touching due to the presence of Stacy in her room, who came out frequently to either get something from the kitchen or use one of the bathrooms. Several hours later, the sky already darkening, the door opened and the redhead and her boyfriend returned, the latter laden with shopping bags.

"Stalker." Mike grinned. "How much of that is yours?"

"None." Lucas groaned and set them down, taking off his shoes at the door. "Why do women always buy so much when they go shopping."

"El did the same when we went to San Fran." Mike shrugged. "Maybe it's sexual."

"Sexual?" Lucas looked at him, El and Max too.

"Why sexual?" El asked.

"Well, if the buying part of shopping is the intercourse, strolling through every store would be foreplay." Mike suggested.

"Yeah, Max loves foreplay." Lucas agreed.

"Just for that, we're doing foreplay ten times as much tonight." Max promised him. "You think your jaw was tired last night, think again."

"See what you did?" Lucas pointed an accusing finger at Mike.

"Hey, I didn't tell you to agree with me." Mike laughed.

"Black Mike, carry my stuff into my room and get naked!" Max ordered and took off her shirt right away, presenting her bra-covered breasts. "White Mike, the offer still stands, I'll kick Lucas out right away."

"Shut it!" El grumbled, giving Max a glare that would have felled Max on the spot if those could kill while Lucas muttered under his breath as he carried Max's bags into her room.

"How long do you think she'll do that?" Mike asked after Max had joined her boyfriend.

"I'm back!" Jennifer announced her presence as she walked through the door, preempting El's reply, the blond wearing a skirt that, if it had been two inches shorter, would be called a belt.

"Hey." Mike and El greeted her in unison.

"Seriously, you wore this in Vermont?" El pointed her her lower apparel.

"Okay, who's here too?" Jennifer asked after looking at the shoes, ignoring El's question.

"Lucas is spending the night again." El told her. "Max said they needed to catch up for the month apart and last night wasn't enough."

"Oh no." Jennifer gave a theatrical whine. "El?"

"Yes, you can." El chuckled.

"Oh, thank you!" Jennifer gushed.

"Okay, the guy in the room needs to be caught up." Mike got their attention.

"Whenever Lucas and Max had a longer dry spell and then Lucas spends the night, Jennifer usually sleeps in my bed with me because it's king size." El explained.

"Why?" Mike wondered. "You slept in your room when Lucas spent the night before."

"Come with me." El said and grabbed his hand to pull him up, not letting it go as they walked to Jennifer's room.

"Okay, now what?" Mike asked when they stood in the room, El closing the door and turning off the lights.

"Just listen." she lifted a finger for him to be quiet but he could only hear some muffled grunts.

"Is that them?" he looked at the wall that was the source of the noise.

"Yeah, baby, lick it!" a muffled female voice suddenly said.

"What the...?" Mike's eyes went wide and he knelt on Jennifer's bed to get closer to the wall. "They're really that loud?"

"Yep." El chuckled and knelt next to him. "The walls aren't thick enough to block the sound and Max's bed is directly on the other side of this wall. And apparently they're in the middle of foreplay right now."

"Yeah, she's sitting on his face." he chuckled, his ear against the wall.

"How do you know?" she wanted to know, putting her ear against the wall too.

"She's talking, he's not and if you listen past her talking and his grunting, you can hear a quiet, rhythmic squeaking." he explained.

"I do hear that." she nodded when she did as he told.

"Which means, they're moving in a certain manner and the springs of her bed respond." he continued. "Hard to do if she were on her back."

"Okay." she accepted his evaluation. "Is it different?"

"Is what different?" he looked at her.

"Well, if I sat on your face, would if feel different?" she clarified.

"The pleasure part not so much." he shook his head. "Doesn't matter if you're on your back or sitting on my face, I'd still flick my tongue over your clit or push it inside you. The difference would be more psychological."

"How so?" she was interested.

"You're in power." he shrugged. "You decide how much pressure you want to have from me and you decide how long you want me to lick you. Sure, I can push you off of me if I had to but since I love to pleasure and taste you, I'd lick you as long as you want, up to a certain point. And it would feel even better for me since it's tough on my neck to do it for long when you're on your back."

"I never knew that about your neck." she was surprised.

"You can try it." he winked. "Get on your bed, on your stomach and look forward against the headboard. It bunches your neck and after a while, it becomes almost painful."

"Is that why you shift around so much when you lick me?" she asked.

"Exactly." he confirmed.

"What did you mean by up to certain point?" she wanted to know.

"Try having a hundred pound weight on your face for a long time and then tell me how long you can bear it." he shrugged. "I mean, yeah, you'd probably shift your weight too several times but it adds up."

"Well, then I should sit on your face in the future." she winked but suddenly, a loud bang was heard against the wall, followed by more squeaking and then more bangs.

"Alright, we should leave now." Mike laughed. "She's riding his cock now. No wonder Jennifer doesn't want to stay here when they're doing it."

"Well, you did give Dustin earplugs when he stayed in here, so you must have had an inkling of how loud it was." El winked.

"Only because you told me that they were loud but hearing it for myself really opened my eyes." he agreed as they walked back to the living room.

"So, did you learn anything?" Jennifer grinned at them.

"Yep, you really can't spend the night in there, at least if you want to sleep." Mike nodded and sat back down on the couch again, El doing it too right next to him. "Did that just come on?"

"Yup." Jennifer giggled.

"Ugh." Mike cursed. "How can you watch this?"

"The same way you can watch a forty year old science fiction movie over and over again." El shrugged and poked out her tongue at him.

"Hey, Star Wars is a classic and the greatest movies ever made." Mike countered. "At least, the original trilogy. Episode one to three were an atrocity and their existence must be ignored."

"Were they that bad?" Jennifer asked. "I heard that from Marcus too, when I dated him."

"Oh god, it was bad." Mike groaned. "Jar Jar Binks ruined it."

"Was he the floppy-eared guy?" El asked.

"Mi-sa thinking you-sa must watch the movie too, betcha, betcha." Mike said in a high-pitched voice, mimicking the character. "And don't get me started on Anakin Skywalker and Padme."

"Why?" El wanted to know.

"The actors had absolutely no chemistry at all." Mike threw his arms up. "Watching them act as if they were in love was painful. Add to that the fact that the characters met when he was six and she was sixteen or eighteen, it gives an even bigger wince factor."

El smiled at his passion, the program on TV momentarily forgotten. She watched as he explained more things why the movie was bad, only listening to half of it because her mind was too busy marveling at his features. She had seen on the first day that he was a very cute guy, with his high cheekbones and his freckles but when he got that passion, he was downright delectable. She was barely able to stop herself from jumping him, only the presence of Jennifer preventing her from taking off her clothes and getting the pleasure she wanted right now.

"We get it, you hate the first three episodes." Jennifer laughed when Mike had calmed down again.

"Damn right, I do." Mike nodded. "But I'd watch them all day if it meant not watching this."

"Hey, Real Housewives is a great show." Jennifer argued.

"They're not even real housewives, it's all fake." Mike argued.

"Mike?" El got his attention.

"Yes?" he looked directly at her.

"Go!" she pointed to his room.

"Yes, dear." he moped theatrically and got up, going to his room.

"Heathen." El sighed and turned her face back to the television, Jennifer giggling.

"Hey, where's Stacy?" Jennifer asked.

"She's in her room." El told her. "Reading."

"What, not with Troy after a month?" Jennifer shuddered. "But seriously, how can she date that sleaze bag"

"I don't know, but she doesn't anymore, she dumped him." El told her and looked at the hallway leading to Mike's room, seeing him return to the living room with his phone in hand.

"Wait, Stacy dumped Troy?" Jennifer gasped. "Why?"

"Apparently, Troy cheated on her and on her second day in Texas, she found out when she video called him and his phone camera gave her a good look at a naked Charlotte Stevens." Mike explained.

"No way, Charlotte Stevens?" Jennifer gasped even more. "Damn!"

"How's life with Dorian?" El asked.

"Over." Jennifer shrugged. "Dumped him too."

"Why?" El gasped, wondering how Jennifer could go through guys like that.

"Well, he apparently didn't listen when I told him where I would spend the month." she shrugged. "Imagine my surprise when I was going to the ski lodge and saw him sharing a drink and kisses with another girl. Walked up to him and asked how his syphilis was faring."

"You didn't!" El laughed.

"Yeah, you'd have thought that he had the plague given how fast the other girl ran away." Jennifer grinned. "Then he used those old platitudes of how it wasn't what it looked like and so on, as if I was going to believe that."

"Don't you think you need to change your preferences in boyfriends?" Mike wondered as he sat down. "From what I've heard, you risk being seen as a slut."

"Are you saying it's my fault that my relationships never work out?" Jennifer gaped.

"How many boyfriends did you have so far?" Mike asked.

"In the two years I've been in college, I had... oh." Jennifer's face fell. "Nineteen boyfriends for varying durations."

"And how did these relationships end?" Mike wanted to know. "Did they dump you, or did you dump them for whatever reason?"

"Some cheated on me, some I simply dumped because they turned out to be assholes once they had slept with me." Jennifer was on the verge of crying, something Mike noticed so he got up and mentioned for El to scoot over so he could get between them.

"It's okay." Mike said quietly and took Jennifer into his arms who began crying.

"God, am I really a slut?" Jennifer cried. "No wonder I can't find relationships that last."

"How is that?" El wondered, looking with a lot of sympathy and more than a little jealousy at her hugging roommates.

"If I met a girl who I knew already had nineteen boyfriends in the last two years, I wouldn't get my hopes up that it would be a long-lasting relationship." Mike explained. "I'd probably be with her for the sex for as long as possible until the inevitable happens. But that also means that I wouldn't put much effort into the relationship in the first place or even take fidelity seriously."

"Oh." El looked at him with wide eyes. "How can you be so wise?"

"Learned it in my psychology class, the professor talked about relationships once and mentioned the impact on our social evaluation by others in light of our actions." Mike replied.

"Did your professor say anything about how I could get rid of the stigma again?" Jennifer asked, looking up at him.

"Don't date for a while." Mike shrugged. "Or find a boyfriend who doesn't know you or your relationship history and stay with him."

"But what if I'm not happy with him." Jennifer wondered.

"Then dump him and stay single." Mike shrugged again. "No reason to stay in a relationship you're unhappy in. But you shouldn't dump him after a single argument, no matter how bad it was unless he said truly hurtful things."

"Even if he later adamantly argues that he didn't mean them?" El asked.

"If he said those things in a heated argument, he meant them." Mike smiled at her as Jennifer let go of him to go to the bathroom to clean her face.

"How do you know?" El looked curious.

"Because people are truly themselves when they're passionate, you know, when the polite veneer of society drops off." Mike said, looking deep into her eyes. "Like when they're fighting."

"Or make love." she breathed and both their mouths opened slightly.

Her eyes flickered to his lips, noticing that his did as well and she was about to move closer to him when they heard the bathroom door open again and their roommate coming back out to sit back down on the couch. El realized that if Jennifer had returned in a few minutes, she would have walked in on the couple on the couch doing it instead of just looking at each other with desire.

"Well, I'm going to unpack my stuff." Jennifer sighed, picking up her bags.

"How long do you think it'll take her to notice the book?" Mike asked after Jennifer had disappeared. "Stacy did after a minute or so."

"Depending on how down she still is after your pep talk." El joked, seeing Mike kneeling down to pet their dog just as a scream came from the other hallway.

"Alright, so either Max just got an earth shattering orgasm or Jennifer opened the package." El chuckled. "Here we go."

"YOU!" Jennifer pointed at Mike and took a run at him.

"What?" Mike played innocent but wasn't prepared for what Jennifer was doing.

She jumped up and at him and if he had been standing, she would have landed in his arms, her legs around his waist, her arms on his shoulders and her head on the perfect height to kiss him but since he was on his knees, her abdomen hit his chest and even though Mike tried to lift his arms and stop the impact, her momentum drove them both to the floor, Jennifer sliding forward on his body to end up exactly where El and Mike had talked about El ending up later.

"Jennifer!" El shouted, hearing Mike groan.

"El, you will not believe what Mike gave me!" Jennifer shouted, bouncing excitedly, causing Mike to groan in pain even louder. "Oh wow, Mike, that feels nice!"

"Jennifer, you're sitting on my boyfriend's face, stand up this second!" El yelled and took two steps forward. "And I hope to god you're wearing underwear!"

"You two got together?" Jennifer shouted excitedly, bouncing even more. "Congratulations!"

"UP, NOW!" El growled.

"Whoops, sorry!" Jennifer grinned and stood up, going to El to hug her. "And I do wear underwear."

"She's wearing a thong." Mike groaned from the floor.

"Get out!" El grumbled at Jennifer, pushing her away. "Right now!"

"I'm gonna go read." Jennifer grinned and skipped away.

"So much for pushing the girl off your face, huh?" El looked accusingly down at Mike, who was opening and closing his fists and mouth. "What are you doing?"

"When she landed on me, her knees hit my wrists, I'm trying to get circulation back into my hands." he told her. "And she bounced on my jaw, that really hurt."

"Yeah, apparently the jaw is a lot softer than the hips, right?" she chuckled, seeing Bella stand next to a still prone Mike and beginning to lick his face.

"Ew, Bella!" Mike turned his face away.

"She likes you." El giggled.

"Yeah, but she's slobbering." Mike winced and sat up. "Come on, lets walk her."

"Do I have to?" El whined.

"Of course, you didn't pull her away when she started licking my face." he shrugged and walked to the bathroom to wash his face.

"Pff." she huffed and grabbed her phone, determined to think about a way to punish her roommates for making moves on her man.

* * *

**Oops, that ran away from me a little ^^**

**Still, review please :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**For those who don't read my other Stranger Things story, I wanna apologize here too for my long absence. I suffer from a persistent respiratory illness that gives me numerous coughing fits, which have my body shaking so much that they induce headaches, which makes concentrating difficult. Also, at night, when I'm on my back, I feel pressure on my chest as if someone is sitting on it, which makes sleeping tough.**

**Alisea: Mike specifically stated he'd only do that if El wasn't in the picture. Sure, it may come over as mean but wouldn't you rather have honesty from your boyfriend instead of him lying?**

**Still, enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and I write for my own pleasure and that of the readers.**

* * *

"You really could be an underwear model." Mike commented as he watched El turn her tank top to cover her otherwise naked body, except for the slip she had put on.

"What?" she looked confused at him.

"Well, remember when we went shopping and there was this underwear isle in the supermarket where there were these pictures of woman's lower bodies modeling the underwear?" he clarified. "You have the figure to be one of them."

"So, you'd want other men to ogle my lower body?" she grinned, letting the tank top drop on the bed and crawling over it until she had reached his head.

"I said you could, not that you should." he winked and pushed her slip to the middle, revealing her ass cheeks and grabbing them as El kissed him.

"I'm really sorry." she repeated her apology from the night before.

"It's okay, nobody will see it once I wear a shirt." he smiled to show that he wasn't mad. "Though I never expected you to bite me so hard that you would draw blood."

"It's your own damn fault." she pouted.

"How is it my fault?" he laughed.

"You said not to be so loud since Jennifer is in my bedroom, so I had to find a way to clamp down my scream from the the last orgasm you gave me." she argued.

"And you chose to sink your teeth into my shoulder?" he grinned.

"And I would do it again." she poked out her tongue and lifted herself back up. "Jesus, I hate you."

"For what now?" he chuckled.

"Normally, if someone woke me this early on a day where I could sleep in, I would maul them." she huffed and got up to finish putting on the shirt she had in her hand earlier.

"You wanted me to train you." he shrugged and got up as well, quickly putting on his shorts and a shirt as well.

"Can't you do your morning exercise at noon?" she moped and looked for some gym shorts.

"That would be noon exercise, wouldn't it?" he asked innocently as he put his own sweatpants on.

"Smart ass." she rolled her eyes at him and gave him a whack on his ass. "Uh, firm ass."

"Thanks." he winked and grabbed hers again too before giving her a deep kiss. "Love you."

"Love you too." she giggled and walked out of the room with him right behind her.

As they did for several times now, they exited the house and walked around it into the backyard, where they took up position opposite from each other, their right arms bent and facing forward, their wrists touching on their outsides. After several seconds of inactivity, both started moving, their arms moving in circles but always touching each other.

El kept her eyes on his chest, avoiding the mistakes from the days before when she had looked at his arms to try to keep his pace. Whenever his right arm moved in, her own moved out so her wrist could touch his and move along it, while they both danced around each other. For El, this was surprisingly calming, moving around with the man who had stolen her heart in an calming and yet active way.

As for Mike, he was most surprised at how quickly El had been able to learn these moves. It had taken him years to master these movement, to have them become almost instinctive and he had rarely done them with a partner, except when his teacher had shown him how they work. Now, El was his student and she was quickly catching up to his level of expertise, even though he wasn't that far along himself.

With a smile, he realized that their harmonious movements could be the result of their relationship. This petite girl had certainly stolen his heart and despite the fact that they had only been together for a few weeks, he felt as if they were a couple for years, given how much in sync they sometimes seemed to be. It also showed in bed, when both knew exactly what to do and when to do it, when to change positions and so on.

"Are you getting aroused?" El asked after roughly an hour of them doing the exercise, almost flabbergasted when she noticed the tenting of his pants in the corner of her eye while their movements didn't stop.

"Sorry, was thinking of how harmonious we move right now and how often we do the same during sex." he chuckled.

"You're right." she agreed. "You were also right when you said that this is very calming."

"I told you." he winked and stopped moving by grabbing her wrist. "Alright, we're done, time for a shower and breakfast."

"Good morning." the voice of their redheaded roommate greeted them when they came back into the house.

"Morning, Max." El replied. "Lucas still in a sex coma? Or did he have to go to the hospital for dehydration?"

"Very funny." Max squinted her eyes at El. "For your information, he had an appointment to get his new uniforms fitted."

"Isn't that kinda hard for him, given that he can barely stand straight after you're done bouncing on his cock?" El kept mocking her.

"Shut up!" Max grumbled.

"Uh, someone didn't get enough last night." El giggled, unable to stop.

"Sounds like somebody got it too good last night." Max shot back.

"Oh, you have no idea." El chuckled and gave Max a mocking hug before sneaking into her room in case Jennifer was still sleeping but the bed was empty.

She grabbed some new clothes and headed into the bathroom where Mike was already stepping into the shower stall. She joined him and stepped in front of him, letting his bulk envelop her while she opened the faucet, letting the warm water splash over both of them. While she wouldn't have said no to some shower action, she was too hungry to do it now so they kept to showering. After drying off and getting dressed, Mike headed into the kitchen to make breakfast while El set the table as the other three girls appeared out of their rooms, dressed and hungry.

"So, what's for breakfast?" Stacy asked.

"Mike's about to make it." El told her.

"Lets watch." Jennifer grinned and headed into the kitchen, the other girls following, El only to prevent her roommates from jumping her boyfriend again and they were welcomed by the image of Mike finishing cutting strawberries.

"What are you doing here?" Mike asked them.

"Watching you work." Max grinned. "What are you making?"

"Strawberry omelets." Mike replied and got to work.

He took out one of the egg cartons from the fridge, along with a carton of milk and some strawberries. He added a carton of pancake batter mix powder, along with the bowl and the electric mixer before cracking up the twelve eggs from the carton and pouring the contents into the bowl. He started the mixer and dunked it into the eggs, scrambling them into a thick liquid, after which he added two scoops of pancake mix, a small spoonful of cinnamon and a half a scoop of milk and mixing it thoroughly to create a light brown mass.

He grabbed two small pans and poured a bit of olive oil into them after turning on the stove. As the oil heated up, he took 4 smaller bowls, pouring an equal amount of egg mix into those bowls and adding the pieces of strawberry to each bowl. When the oil was hot enough, he poured a bowl each into the two pans and waited for the mix to harden, using a spatula to lift it and turn it around once the bottom side was done. He repeated the process until the mix was done, after which he presented the five plates to his four roommates who looked at the result with doubtful eyes.

"That looks weird." Max commented and poked around at her food with her fork.

"Just try it." Mike chuckled and cut into his, taking a big bite.

"Oh my god!" Jennifer gasped after eating her first bite. "That's amazing!"

"Jesus, where did you learn to cook that?" Stacy asked after eating her first piece.

"That particular dish?" Mike asked and Stacy nodded. "On the internet."

"Excuse me?"

"On the internet." Mike repeated. "It's not just porn on there, you know?"

"Funny." Stacy made a face. "El, give him a big screen smart TV."

"Funny." El deadpanned. "Mike's loaded, he can buy one himself."

"Speaking of loaded, what about the pool?" Jennifer asked.

"How do you get from loaded to pool?" Mike wondered.

"A pool costs money, you have money." Jennifer shrugged.

"Girls, he's not our personal piggy bank." El interjected.

"I know, but I want a pool." Jennifer whined.

"Isn't Stacy the one who had the idea for a pool so she can have sex in it?" Max asked.

"Hey!" Stacy moped. "These two things aren't connected."

"Well, in this case, I am okay with being your piggy bank." Mike laughed. "I want a pool as well, so I decided to front you the money."

"How expensive can a pool be?"

"Depends on what kind you want." Mike shrugged. "If you just want to get one you can blow up, it's cheap. One that you have to build but that you can dismantle again, costs more. If you want one that's tiled, with a ladder and so on, that's expensive since they need to dig a hole, make a foundation, tile it and so on."

"What's the best one?"

"The best one is of course the last one. It's solid and will keep. The one you can build and dismantle is prone to break at some point and the rubber one can puncture easily and depending on its size, both are hard to store it when not in use and climbing into the rubber one will always spill water."

"If you really want to do it, I think you should decide about that." Max said. "It's your money after all."

"That you will pay me back, at least your part of it." Mike reminded her.

"Fair enough." Max shrugged. "I think we should get some cost estimates before we vote on it."

"Agreed. "El nodded.

"I'll do it." Mike shrugged. "Gives me something to do until I have to prepare the food for our barbecue with the guys tonight."

"I'm really looking forward to that." Jennifer giggled. "Poker afterwards?"

"If we're still capable of that, of course." Mike nodded. "Lucas is pretty adamant about that since he starts working as a police officer next Monday."

"I hope he looks as good in uniform as I imagine." Max purred. "Can't wait to get it off of him."

"Unbelievable." Jennifer groaned. "I'm so glad that El and Mike are quieter in bed than you."

"They're not so quiet, believe me." Max grinned. "El is quite the screamer."

"Max, shut up!" El gasped.

"I barely heard them last night, apart from the bumping of the bed." Jennifer wondered.

"Because we knew you were in the other room and we were quiet on purpose." Mike threw in, trying to clamp down his own embarrassment of having them talk about his sex life with El and subconsciously pulling the neck of his shirt up more to hide the bite mark.

"Thank you." Jennifer smiled.

"Pah, what good is sex when you can't scream out your joy about it." Max waved that off.

"The sex is still good, but it's considerate to the people around you." El shrugged.

"You mean if I wasn't in the room next to you, you'd scream too?" Jennifer asked.

"Yeah." El nodded.

"Is he that good?"

"Oh yeah." El grinned, causing Mike to blush.

"Could we stop talking about this?" Mike pleaded.

"Why, the only thing we're hearing is how great you are." Stacy giggled.

"Then how would you feel if you sit with your boyfriend and his friends and he keeps talking about how your breasts and pussy look and feel." Mike turned it around.

"Uh, that would be gross." Stacy made a face. "Point taken."

"Now, since we're going to eat a lot when we do our barbecue, lunch today will only be the soup from yesterday." Mike proclaimed as he stood up. "If you want more, you have to either make it yourself or order in or go out."

"You're going to get the cost estimates now?" El asked.

"That too." he nodded, leaning down to kiss her. "But I also need to write some stuff, I have some ideas floating in my head and have to get them down before I forget."

"Uh, go go go!" Max shooed him away. "We're doing the dishes."

"Thanks." Mike winked and left the room.

"You think he's writing on the third book?" Jennifer asked giddily.

"Why don't you finish the second before?" El shook her head in mirth.

"I'm almost done." Jennifer shrugged. "I'm two-thirds through."

"The last thing we should do is rush him." Max counseled. "I'm willing to wait for quality work."

"Me too." Stacy agreed.

* * *

After several hours of at first researching cost estimates and compiling them and then creating a few plot points for his next book, Mike returned to the kitchen to prepare the meat for the barbecue. He opened the fridge and took out the containers with the animal parts, opening them up and washing them.

He then took several large bowls and the ingredients he had bought for the marinades. With experienced steps, he poured the various ingredients into their respective bowls, creating the thick substance that would give the meat it's later taste. He filled the last bowl with simple olive oil for the few pieces he wouldn't marinade and once all was done, he put all the meat into them to let them soak.

While he worked, El and Jennifer joined him in the kitchen, both girls sitting down at the kitchen island and watching him work. Max had already left the house with Lucas to go back to his apartment to get Dustin, Will and Chris who were bringing some non-meat food and the drinks they would have tonight.

"Hey, will barbecuing become something we'll do more often now?" Jennifer asked.

"Maybe, why?" Mike shrugged.

"If so, we could move that cabinet somewhere else so we can use the door behind it to have a shorter path to the backyard." she suggested, pointing to the other end of the kitchen.

"There's a door behind that cabinet?" Mike was nonplussed and walked to it to look behind the piece of furniture. "Son of a bitch!"

"We could empty it out and then wait for your friends so you all can..." Jennifer began but Mike simply grabbed the cabinet left and right, lifting it an inch off the floor and moving it four feet to the left by taking tiny sidesteps with it. "Or you could simply move it on your own without even taking something out of it."

"Jesus, that was heavy." Mike gasped for air, shaking out his arms. "Why haven't I seen that door before?"

"Maybe because we never used it and every time we went into the backyard for training, we went around the house on the other side." El shrugged as Mike opened the door, the hinges creaking and accrued grime and dust falling from the frame.

"Why was this door blocked anyway?" Mike wanted to know, closing it again.

"That must have been my grandma." El told him. "Maybe she didn't like the house to be drafty or she did it for security reasons."

"Still, very nice." Mike smiled. "Saves us quite a few trips."

"Not really, since we'd have handed everything out through the window." Jennifer shrugged.

"I don't know about you but when I have a barbecue with lots of food and lots of drinks, I tend to have to use the bathroom a few times." Mike winked.

"Point taken." Jennifer laughed. "Good door."

Mike continued with his work, the marinades now finished and the meat soaking in it, and prepared several more bowls with the various barbecue sauces he wanted to have but also adding some store bought bottles. It took another hour, but finally he was done, the meat laid out and the sauces in the fridge, the only thing missing now the guests.

"What is all this?" Stacy asked, walking into the kitchen to see El and Jennifer sit at the kitchen island and Mike working with multiple bowls.

"Mostly chicken, some sausages and steak." Mike said.

"And what are they in?" Stacy looked into the bowls.

"These ones are in olive oil." Mike pointed to the first. "It's not really to add flavor but to avoid having them stick to the grill. The next one is plum puree..."

"Plum puree?" Stacy gaped disbelievingly.

"Don't disparage it until you taste it." Mike chuckled. "It adds a particular flavor, though that'll be ruined if you use ketchup or any other barbecue sauce or if you let it too long on the grill."

"And the others?" Stacy asked.

"The third is a simple herbage-chili marinade, the fourth is honey-mustard and the last is garlic-yogurt." Mike finished. "The steaks are separated in the garlic and chili marinades as well. Honey-mustard doesn't really work with red meat."

"Jeez, you learned that from the internet too?"

"Nope, my uncle." Mike chuckled. "We always had these at family barbecues during the fourth of July and he always told us to stay away from the grill when he was there too."

"So, he just gave you his secret recipes?" Stacy was doubtful.

"Who said anything about secret recipes?" Mike laughed. "He only said to stay away from the grill. When I was fourteen, I went into the kitchen and asked him about his marinades. He was more than happy to share the recipes, glad that someone finally asked."

"So, you would teach me?" Stacy looked at him.

"Do you want to learn?" Mike looked back.

"Not really." Stacy shook her head, chuckling.

"I think our guests are here." El smiled, hearing the front door open.

"Men are here." Dustin said when the guys had entered the kitchen, Max in tow. "We make fire. Cook meat."

"Then put out fire by peeing on grill, never invited back." Lucas added, making the girls laugh at their Friends scene replay.

"Where are Will and Chris?" Mike asked them.

"Still at the car, bringing in their contributions." Lucas told him as he put down the kegs of beer he had been carrying.

"Seriously, how many more people are coming?" Stacy asked, pointing at the keg.

"What, it's just two gallons each." Lucas shrugged. "Me and the guys can kills those alone."

"The hell you will." Jennifer scoffed. "I want some beer too. Need to wash down the meat."

"The girl of my dreams." Dustin laughed. "Smart, beautiful and likes beer and meat."

"I'm full of surprises." Jennifer winked at him and bumped her hip against his.

"Now, lets get this shindig on the road." Lucas whooped and turned around, only to see the moved cabinet. "Was there always a door here?"

"Yeah, we just didn't see it." Mike nodded.

"Wait, for real?"

"That cabinet next to it was standing in front of it." Mike pointed to the large case.

"Well, that makes the way shorter." Lucas shrugged and opened the door, again with the hinges creaking.

"I get some oil." El winced.

"Use the WD-40." Mike called after her, El returning with the spray bottle and applying it to all three hinges and opening the door to test it out.

"Works." El nodded and put the bottle away again.

"Hey Mike, girls." Will greeted them, carrying three closed bowls stacked on top of each other.

"Hey Will." El greeted Mike's friend and seeing his boyfriend following into the kitchen, also carrying several smaller bowls. "Hey Chris."

"El, ma belle." Chris grinned, revealing a small gemstone stuck on his front teeth.

"You can bring those out to the yard right away." Mike pointed to the door.

"Was that door here the last time we were here?" Will asked confused.

"Yep, just hidden." El chuckled.

"Mike, come on, the fire is going, bring the meat!" Lucas' voice shouted from outside.

"Yeah, yeah!" Mike shouted back and grabbed four of the bowls. "Girls."

"Coming." El nodded and grabbed two more, Jennifer taking the last, along with the tray with the sausages.

"Are we expecting more people?" Will asked.

"No, why?" El wondered.

"Because there's so much food." Will pointed out.

"Hey, we invited Dustin, so we need a lot." Mike chuckled. "And we can feed some of the raw pieces to Bella."

"Hey!" Dustin gasped. "I don't eat a lot."

"Right." Lucas laughed. "Remember when we arrived in Hawkins and you ordered the, and I quote, 'left side', at Benny's?"

"I was hungry." Dustin defended himself.

"Are you hungry now?" Jennifer asked, grinning.

"I could eat a horse." Dustin nodded and looked into the bowls that were placed on the table next to the grill. "I don't have to, do I?"

"What?" El gasped. "No! That's chicken, beef and pork."

"Good." Dustin nodded his approval. "Will and Chris made salads."

"What kind?" Jennifer asked.

"This is potato." Chris pointed to the leftmost and went down the line. "Pasta, egg, rice, tomato, cucumber and carrot. And these foil packages contain various vegetables that we have to put on the grill to get a barbecue salad."

"Cool." Jennifer nodded her approval.

"Lets get this show on the road!" Lucas shouted and threw the first pieces of meat on the grill until it was full. "Is that plum puree?"

"Yep." Mike nodded.

"That's amazing!" Lucas grinned.

"You know this?" Stacy asked him.

"Yeah." Lucas replied. "When we went back to Hawkins, me and my folks visited my grandparents and they took us to a rib joint where they also used plum puree. Tasted amazing."

"Don't leave it on the grill for too long." Mike told him. "If it burns even slightly, the taste is ruined."

"I know." Lucas nodded and flipped the two pieces from the plum bowl.

While Lucas stood at the grill, Mike filled a small tub with cold water and put all their bottles and one of the kegs into the tub before placing the second keg on the edge of the table so everyone who wanted a beer could pour one from the tap at its bottom. Dustin and Will drew themselves a beer each, Max and El doing so as well and handing the glass to their respective boyfriends after which the girls opened a bottle of wine and poured a glass each, Chris joining in for his one glass of alcohol tonight, since he would be driving himself and Will home later.

When Lucas put the first pieces of meat onto a large tray and the sausages into a bowl, El expected Mike to bring it over but to her surprise, he simply covered both with foil and set them aside while Lucas put the next batch onto the grill, the sausages wedged into the spaces between the steaks. She now understood the reason for Mike buying those thin slices of meat instead of the usually thicker ones since it cut down on the time they needed to be ready.

Along with the meat, Lucas added the foil wrapped vegetables that Chris had brought. El had no idea what was in the packages but decided to at least try the end result, never having tasted grilled vegetables in a salad. Apparently hungry, Max had started eating the potato salad that Will had contributed, Stacy adding some rice salad to her plate and nibbling on it to pass the time.

Five minutes later, the second batch was ready, Mike once again simply covering the meat on the second tray while Lucas added the sausages to the ones in the bowl before putting the last of the meat and sausages for them on the grill, the vegetables still stewing in their packaging and leaving a few pieces for Bella later. El's mouth watered when the scent of the meat wafted over to the table and she couldn't resist the urge to take some pasta salad and eating it.

Finally, after another almost agonizing six minutes, Lucas took the last of the chicken and pork from the grill as well as the sausages and the foil packages, letting Mike carry the trays to the table. Before he sat down, Mike opened the packages carefully and emptied the contents into another bowl. El could see corn, carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, rocket, tomatoes and even some peppers when Mike sat the bowl down and she gleefully helped herself to a large portion of it.

"Dig in." Mike opened the meal and the group dug their forks into the various pieces of meat, lifting them to their plates.

"Michael, this sauce is heavenly." Chris commented on one of the sauces that Mike had prepared.

"Thanks." Mike smiled.

"Willy." Chris grinned and lifted a long sausage from the bowl, holding it in between his fingers and letting it flop around before biting off a piece.

"Oh, you're on." Will winked.

"Okay, I have no idea if you're doing what I think you're doing but could you not do it while we're eating?" Max pleaded.

"Max, you that all the time, even when we're eating." El chuckled. "Remember the cream in your coffee?"

"Okay, that was once." Max argued.

"Don't worry, Maxine." Chris smiled, knowing that Max hated being called by her full name and deciding to do it to needle her. "We'll stop now."

"Are you going to get Will sloshed again?" Dustin asked when Chris handed Will his third glass of beer.

"No, just tipsy enough." Chris winked at Dustin.

"Uh, can I stay here again tonight?" Dustin looked at El.

"Sure." El laughed.

"You can stay in my room again." Jennifer added.

"Is Lucas staying here as well?" Dustin looked at his black friend and the redhead.

"Of course he is." Max nodded. "He starts working next week, I have to use the remaining time."

"I guess I'll sleep on the living room couch then." Dustin shrugged.

"That's insulting." Max moped.

"Maxine, the earplugs didn't really work the last time, especially when you and Lucas were making the bed ram into the wall." Dustin argued, using her given name to make his point.

"Dustin, the couch isn't really made for sleeping on it." El told him.

"Then I'll sleep on the dog doughnut you have in there." Dustin laughed.

"I think Bella will have something against that." Mike joined in the laughter.

Max commented that with a smirk, not even apologizing for being loud during sex and went back to her food. To everyone's surprise, the amount of food was more or less perfectly measured since roughly an hour later, Dustin hummed as he put the last piece of steak in his mouth, the trays and the bowl of sausages now empty, as Jennifer was using a spoon on the rice salad bowl to get every kernel out of there.

"It looks like a bomb exploded on the table." Stacy laughed as she leaned back to start the digestion of all the food she had eaten.

"Yeah." Mike nodded and got up, collecting the empty plates.

"Why are you cleaning up already?" Max wondered. "Let the food settle."

"That's why I'm cleaning up already." Mike told her. "Once I let the food settle, I get into what Dustin once coined rigor fullness."

"What?" Jennifer looked up.

"Rigor fullness." Dustin nodded. "It's the effect you feel when you ate a lot, when you simply have no strength to even move and hope to god that you don't have to use the toilet."

"Right." Jennifer laughed and threw a piece of pasta at him which he expertly caught with his mouth.

"Thanks." Dustin winked and lifted his mug of beer to his mouth again.

"Unbelievable." Jennifer shook her head.

"Yeah, you can't fluster him with food." Will chuckled and got up to help Mike, taking the trays and the bowls and bringing them into the kitchen where Mike was already loading the dishwasher with the plates and cutlery.

"Will, can you take the snacks outside?" Mike asked him, pointing to a basket full of bags with various snack foods.

"Sure." Will nodded, grabbing a bunch of empty bowls.

Mike rejoined the others once he had turned the dishwasher on, sitting down on one of the lawn chairs the group had retreated to, El joining him by sitting down on his lap and leaning back against his chest. She felt happy beyond measure, and thought back to the time before Mike. They had never done this, never had a barbecue with others since, truth be told, apart from her three roommates, El didn't really have anyone in her life she would consider a big enough friend to invite to a barbecue.

But with Mike had come his friends. And she had to admit that his friends were a force to behold, a sworn group of people she could see were friends since childhood and not even the two years of separation they had could sever that band of friendship. And now, they were her friends too. With her boyfriend, her circle of friends had doubled and she was already looking forward to more evenings like this even if they didn't include food but only things like poker or simply hanging out.

"Look, Jennifer and Dustin seem to get along really fine." El whispered to Mike, who looked and saw the two sitting close together, Jennifer giggling at something Dustin said and even having her hand on his leg.

"Excuse me." Mike's face hardened and he gently pushed El off his lap and standing up.

"Where are you going?" El asked but Mike didn't reply.

"Jennifer, can I talk to you in private for a minute?" Mike got his roommates attention.

"Sure." Jennifer shrugged and followed Mike into the kitchen. "What's up?"

"What are you intentions regarding Dustin?" Mike asked bluntly.

"What, are you his mother now?" Jennifer laughed but stopped when she noticed Mike's glare. "Why do you care?"

"I care because he's my best friend." Mike stated. "I care because Dustin is someone who wears his heart on his sleeves. He's someone who will give everything in a relationship and will never cheat on a woman he's with."

"So?" Jennifer was confused.

"So?" Mike repeated. "I won't allow you to use him as your rebound."

"But..."

"His last girlfriend put him through hell, so much so that he moved across the country to get away from her." Mike didn't let her speak. "I will not let you do the same thing to him by jumping in bed with him only to ignore him afterwards. And also..."

"MIKE!" Jennifer shouted to get his attention.

"What?"

"Trust me when I say that the little slut speech you gave me woke me up." Jennifer sighed. "Whatever and if something happens between me and Dustin, I'll promise that he won't be just a rebound."

"Good." Mike nodded with a smile. "Lets go back."

"Right." Jennifer blinked fast at his sudden change in demeanor, from deadly serious to joyous again.

"What was that about?" El asked after Mike had sat back down.

"Just wanted to set the record straight." he whispered into her ear as Jennifer sat back down on her chair next to Dustin.

During the next few hours, as the night rolled in and the various bottles of wine and the kegs of beer emptied, the gang exchanged stories about their childhoods, from the boys telling of their Dungeon's and Dragons games and jumping into the quarry from the cliff as a form of tests of courage to the girls telling them of their childhoods and even Chris telling of his troubled youth as an openly gay boy in southern Missisippi where his parents had to move at some point because the threats to his life became too serious to ignore.

"Alright, we're off." Chris announced, standing up and helping Will get up as well, the smaller man swaying slightly.

"I'm going to destroy your ass tonight." Will giggled and shoved his boyfriend forward.

"Jesus." Dustin gasped. "Chris, are you already regretting that you sloshed him?"

"Not in the slightest." Chris singsonged, almost skipping away in anticipation.

"We're off too." Max said, getting up and giving Lucas an expecting look.

"Night guys." Lucas got the hint and quickly got up.

"Whipped." Dustin laughed.

"Not yet, but I might buy one someday." Max winked as they walked towards the kitchen door.

"Hey man, don't give her ideas!" Lucas shouted aghast before being shoved into the house by his girlfriend.

"Is the couch really that uncomfortable?" Dustin asked El.

"For sleeping, yes." she nodded somberly.

"You could sleep with me in El's bed." Jennifer suggested. "It's king-sized."

"Uh... really?" Dustin was hesitant.

"Jennifer." Mike said her name as a warning.

"Hey, it's just a suggestion." Jennifer shrugged. "We're both adults, her bed is easily big enough for two and it's better than him sleeping on a hard couch or in a bed where he will be accompanied by sounds of fucking coming from the next room."

"I accept." Dustin nodded and leaned back, almost falling asleep.

"I think you should go now, otherwise, all that planning will be for naught when you spend the night out here." El chuckled.

"Right." he nodded and got up. "I have to use one of the smaller bathrooms, right?"

"Right." El grinned.

"I'll head to bed as well." Stacy yawned, getting up.

"Come on El, lets finish the last bottle." Jennifer emptied it into their glasses.

El nodded, lifting the glass to her mouth and tried to ignore Mike's hand caressing her ass for the moment, at least until they were alone.

* * *

**Again, sorry this took so long. Since my respiratory problems aren't accompanied by fever or anything else but coughing, my doctor couldn't put me on more sick leave anymore. Not that I wanted to, since being sick at home for more than a week makes me feel as if the ceiling is coming down on me. So much different when I'm at home a week for vacation, then I'll could gladly add another month. **

**I'll try to write faster again ^^**

**Review please :)**


	13. Chapter 13

**God, I hate Christmas. Well, not Christmas itself but the stress around it. The closer the day comes, the more stressful it is at work. Add to that my bad luck to catch a cold right after my respiratory illness was finally over and you get the confluence of things I really don't like. **

**Enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and I write for my own pleasure and that of the readers.**

* * *

El opened her eyes, the light of the morning hitting her eyes and she squinted them shut to get back to sleep. A quick glance at Mike's wristwatch on his nightstand told her the horrible truth that it was only ten minutes after eight, much too early given the fact that they had gone to bed only at one in the morning and to sleep not before two.

Her idea of snuggling back into Mike's embrace was rudely dissuaded by the bathroom calling her for a visit. She tried to ignore the siren's song but it proved to be too strong with every minute that passed. El gently pried Mike's fingers from her skin, shoving his hand away so she could get up. After putting her feet into her slippers, she threw one of Mike's shirts over her naked body, the fabric going down to her knees and she slipped out of the room, tiptoeing over the carpet through the hallway.

She noticed the door to her own bedroom open and took a glance inside, seeing Dustin and Jennifer lying in her bed, Dustin spooning Jennifer's body and his arm around her waist. Jennifer's fingers were slowly caressing the back of Dustin's hand and El couldn't decide if Jennifer was awake or if she was doing that in her sleep. What she also noticed was that it was apparently Dustin who had shuffled over to her, since both were on the side where Jennifer usually slept when she spent the night in her bed.

Shaking her head but smiling at those two, El continued on to the bathroom and sat down on the toilet, planning only to relieve herself and brush her teeth so she could be back in Mike's arms as quickly as possible. Her body put a kibosh on that idea when her number one turned to number two and El blushed hard at the thought of someone hearing what she was doing right now.

It took her more than twenty minutes to finish. After flushing, El washed her hands and face, then took her toothbrush and got rid of her morning breath, feeling refreshed but not much more awake, since that would only happen after a cup of coffee. She exited the bathroom and walked through the still very quiet house, indicating that nobody else was awake yet. When she passed her bedroom door again, she glanced inside again and continued walking but when her brain had processed the image she had seen, she stopped cold and took a step back to glance through the crack in the door.

Jennifer and Dustin weren't spooning anymore as they had almost half an hour ago. Now, Jennifer was on her back, her eyes closed and her breathing fast and shallow and her legs spread. Dustin was further down the bed, his head between her legs and very busy pleasuring her. El noticed Jennifer's pajama bottoms on the floor where either her or Dustin had let it fall. El could see that Dustin was doing a rather good job, Jennifer's hips undulating rapidly and her whole body tensing as she climaxed from what Dustin was doing to her.

The whole thing had a very real effect on El as well. She felt heat pool in her abdomen and moisture developing between her legs and her breath became quicker as well. She finally managed to turn away from the image and hurried into Mike's bedroom, finding her boyfriend still sleeping soundly. She jumped on the bed, the impact waking Mike up and he looked around confused, his eyes finally landing on his girlfriend who was looking at him with eyes that were almost black.

"What's going on?" he asked, trying to orient himself. "Time for training?"

"Horny!" El managed to get out and pulled the shirt off of her body before moving forward.

"So beaut..." Mike began to say but before he could finish the second word, El was already pressing herself on his mouth and starting to grind her hips to get friction.

"Oh yeah, lick it baby." she breathed, clasping his head with her hands while she moved her body forward and back.

Once Mike was awake enough to realize what was going on, he started working with gusto, not complaining about this particular side of his girlfriend. His hands went to her thighs, to her back and to her breasts, caressing each part of her body while his tongue pleasured her beyond measure. The tangy taste was like ambrosia to him, the knowledge that he was causing it making him want to do it even better than before and he increased the pressure of his tongue every time he noticed her body tense.

Since he knew El tried to stay quiet due to someone being in the next room, he went with her physical reactions. When he felt her tense up and begin to shake, he increased his efforts to prolong her orgasm, which didn't help her own efforts to stay quiet. After a few minutes, El lifted herself off, grinning broadly from the pleasure she had received and dropped a kiss on Mike's lips, tasting herself on him before shifting down his body.

"Oh gooood!" Mike groaned when he saw and felt his cock go into El's mouth.

What El still lacked in skill, not that Mike was a good judge of that given that El is the only woman ever to blow him, she made up with effort. She bobbed her head vigorously, going deeper with every bob and for Mike, the visual of his dick going deeper and deeper into her mouth was almost too much to bear.

For just a second, El bottomed out, her mouth feeling impossibly full with that, to her, huge pieces of man meat in her mouth and as she looked up to see Mike's face, she felt a gag come on and quickly released him, coughing hard and trying not to throw up on his stomach.

"Are you okay?" he asked concerned, handing El a bottle of water.

"Yeah." she croaked and chuckled. "Just overdid it."

"It looked amazing." he chuckled as well.

"Your fault that you have such a huge cock." she poked out her tongue and grabbed it, stroking it gently before putting both her hands around it, one above the other just to check, still seeing the upper portion. "Jesus, this thing is big."

"Thanks." he couldn't help but blush, having never really thought about it, though in retrospect, the reaction of the three girls that essentially used him that one night should have been an indicator.

"And now I think it's time again to prove the impossible and have that thing completely inside me." El grinned and swung her leg over his crotch.

"I think you're..." he tried but then heard am unexpected sound coming through the wall. "What was that?"

"What was what?" El asked, knowing what he was referring to but quickly grabbing his manhood to line it up with her.

"I thought I heard... oh shit, you're so tight!" he couldn't finish his first sentence when she sank down on him.

"You heard 'oh shit, you're so tight'." she quoted him, moaning from his manhood stretching her insides. "Are you hearing voices?"

"Funny." he groaned and grabbed her hips as El began to leisurely ride him.

She kept herself upright, her body weight pressing her down on his manhood and making it feel going in deeper. She made sure not to quiet herself down too much, moaning freely without being too loud to avoid the sounds of Jennifer and Dustin apparently making love now being too audible, given how Mike had reacted to their closeness the night before.

"I need more!" Mike demanded and suddenly flipped them, El ending up on her back.

He pushed her legs up and forward, her knees ending up against her shoulders and he pushed into her, eliciting a loud moan from El when the tip touched the sweet spot in her. They were back in the position where it seemed to El that he was pushing against her heart, even though she knew that it wasn't possible and it felt glorious, the pleasure shooting into her brain almost overwhelming in its intensity. On the plus side, her loud moans were more than overshadowing whatever sounds came from her own bedroom.

"Oh shit!" El yelled when Mike began pounding her in earnest, chasing his own climax.

With a sound of an elk mating call, with a slightly deeper pitch, Mike came, ejaculating inside her with several thrusts before he collapsed on top of her, momentarily knocking the wind out of her with his higher weight. Even though she was almost completely covered by him, El had rarely felt more secure, knowing that this man would walk over hot coals to get to her if she needed him.

"I love waking up like this." Mike chuckled and lifted himself up, pulling out of her in the process.

"Me too." she grinned, quickly holding a tissue between her legs before putting on one of his shorts and his robe.

She exited the room again and noticed that it was quiet again in her own bedroom. A quick glance showed only Jennifer still in bed, her body contorted in a way that spoke of received pleasure, the other side of the bed empty, indicating that Dustin was also using a bathroom at the moment. El hurried into the master bathroom, taking off the robe and shorts and stepping into the shower stall, where she cleaned herself thoroughly.

After finishing, she exited the room and almost ran into Jennifer, who bid her good morning, wearing the same smile that El had on her face as well. Another glance into her bedroom showed Dustin putting on his pants and once she was back in Mike's room, she noticed it empty. She got dressed and exited the room again, finding Mike walking towards the kitchen, wearing sweatpants and a loose shirt.

"Did you shower?" she asked him, following him into the kitchen.

"Yes, I used the third bathroom." he nodded and took two boxes of cereal from the cabinet and some frozen buns out of the freezer, putting the latter on a tray and putting them into the oven before turning on the coffee machine, the cinnamon stick already in the can.

"Are the others awake already?" El wanted to know.

"I ran into Stacy on my way out and Max and Lucas are fucking again, so they're awake as well." Mike told her.

"These two rabbits, I wonder how they will manage when Lucas has weird shifts and Max is in school again." she sighed.

"I'm sure they'll find some opportunities to get some." he chuckled.

"Coffee ready yet?" a tired Stacy asked upon entering the kitchen.

"Almost." Mike replied, taking the can from the coffee maker and adding a cinnamon stick to it. "Done."

"Coffee." Stacy held out her cup.

"Sit down, we're going to eat here, since there's more room." Mike chuckled, pointing to the kitchen island.

"Good morning!" a very chipper Dustin entered the kitchen, followed by a smiling Jennifer.

"Morning." El grinned, giving Jennifer a wink, causing the blond to blush.

"You seem happy." Mike looked at Dustin.

"Why wouldn't I be, had a great night, the morning is bright." Dustin shrugged and sat down at the island.

"Morning!" another voice signaled the arrival of the rest of the gang as Max and Lucas walked in, Lucas looking as if slightly bent over.

"Lucas, you need an ice pack for your crotch?" Dustin joked.

"Shut up." Lucas moped and sat down, wincing as he did so.

"Pff, crybaby." Max waved it off. "I was the one bouncing on you most of the time, you don't hear me complaining."

"No wonder, you're quite the hardass." Lucas grumbled, his head in his hands.

"Excuse me?" Max shrieked, Lucas realizing what he had said.

"I mean, you have quite the hard ass." Lucas rectified, smiling innocently while Max glared at him. "A very hot, greatly shaped, firm ass."

"Wow." Max shook her head, while rolling her eyes. "Mike, you got some coffee for me and black Mike?"

"Oh no, not this again." Lucas whined.

"Black Mike?" Dustin looked at Mike and Lucas. "What did I miss?"

"When Mike gave each of us a copy of his new book, their way of saying thanks was kinds wild and the same." El chuckled. "And Max began calling Lucas black Mike and offered to dump Lucas for him."

"Also because Mike has a really impressive cock." Max shrugged, causing everyone but El and Dustin to spit their coffee back into their cups but only because El hadn't taken a sip and Dustin was too busy making a disgusted face.

"Max!" El shouted aghast.

"What, he does." Max shrugged.

"Jesus, please stop talking about Mike's penis." Dustin winced.

"What, does that make you uncomfortable?" Max poked out her tongue.

"Well... yeah." Dustin nodded. "You'd never hear two guys in a locker room going 'Hey, do you think Frank's cock is big?' unless the guys doing it are gay."

"You also never hear 'Hey Frank, can you zip this up for me?'." Lucas added.

"Yeah, you only hear 'Hey Frank, smell this, I don't need a shower yet, do I?'." Jennifer smirked.

"Of course." Dustin shrugged. "Us guys have varying degrees of dirtiness."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jennifer looked at him confused.

"Well, women know only clean and dirty." Dustin elaborated. "For guys, we can hang a shirt out into the air for a few hours and we consider it clean again."

"Do I even want to know how your apartment looks or smells?" Jennifer asked, though highly amused by Dustin's talk.

"Men don't smell, we have a manly scent." Mike pointed out.

"Right." El laughed. "I remember that the next time you drip with sweat after our morning workouts."

"Don't worry, I was there, it's a lot cleaner than you fear." Max said. "Though I think that's more because of Will than any of these two."

"Hey, I clean." Dustin protested. "Somewhat. I do hate dusting."

"Dustin hates dusting." Jennifer giggled.

"Alright." Mike stood up, forestalling another reply by Dustin. "If everyone is finished, lets clean up."

"Okay." El nodded, getting up too. "Guys, how do you get home? Need a ride?"

"No thanks, I already called, Will and Chris are picking us up." Dustin told her. "We need to get all our boxes home anyway."

"So, when is he..." Mike began to ask when the doorbell rang. "Speak of the devil.

"Hey Chris." Max greeted the man when she opened the door. "Come on in."

"Hey Chris." Dustin greeted him too when the group exited the kitchen.

"Dusty-bun." Chris giggled but to Mike's surprise, Dustin barely reacted.

"Where's Will?" Lucas asked.

"Will stayed home, he's a bit hungover." Chris shrugged and walked towards the kitchen.

"What's wrong with you?" Stacy asked, seeing Chris with a hitch in his step.

"Will was... uh... a bit rough last night." Chris replied.

"So, you regretting getting him drunk?" Dustin asked as he collected the guys' bowls.

"Not even remotely." Chris grinned broadly.

"I couldn't do that." Stacy shuddered. "Sounds painful."

"Girl, you have no idea how great it feels when you're on your stomach and your man has his hands on your shoulder to hold you down while ramming his juicy cock into your ass without mercy." Chris sighed happily.

"Doesn't it hurt?" Jennifer made a face at Chris' vivid description

"Only at first." Chris shrugged. "Once you get used to it, it feels great."

"I don't know." Stacy winced. "Given what's coming out of that hole, a penis shouldn't go in there."

"That's similar to where the penis usually goes, stuff comes out of there too." Chris pointed out.

"Well... still." Stacy tried to argue.

"You know, I think this is the first time that Dustin didn't react to Chris calling him Dusty-bun." Mike mentioned when Dustin had left the house to bring the bowls to the car.

"Well, if I finally got some after a few months of a dry spell, I wouldn't be bothered by a nickname." Max chuckled.

"What are you talking about, Max?" Mike asked confused.

"Oh please, while Jennifer is more capable of hiding it, not that she can really, Dustin's I-got-lucky-last-night expression is as subtle as a fireworks display." Max grinned.

"I see." Mike said, his lips tight together. "Excuse me for a moment."

"Alright." Max shrugged.

"Jennifer, can I talk to you for a second, alone?" Mike tapped the blond on the shoulder, leading her into the kitchen.

"What is it this time?" Jennifer sighed, following him.

"What did I tell you?" Mike hissed as soon as he and Jennifer were alone. "I told you not to mess with Dust..."

"Hold it right there!" she stopped him immediately, pointing a finger at him. "The only thing I did was not saying no."

"What?" Mike was confused, forgetting his anger for the moment.

"Well, if you ask Dustin and if he's truthful, and I think he would be, he would tell you that it was him coming over to my side of the bed and hugging me from behind." she lifted a finger to count. "It was him that put his arm around my waist. It was him that slowly ran his hand down to my legs and have it rest between them. It was him who moved down, took off my bottoms and started licking me. And it was him that then took off his own shorts and started making love to me."

"You could have said no." Mike argued, realizing himself that he already lost the argument.

"Why would I?" Jennifer shot back. "Newsflash, I like sex. And while Dustin isn't the most athletic or most endowed partner I ever had, he's easily the most sensual and most giving ever. He never even demanded a blowjob after he was done with his foreplay."

"But..."

"Maybe you should talk to him, what he thinks about it." Jennifer wouldn't let Mike talk. "I for one wouldn't say no to do it again with him."

Accepting defeat, Mike made a mental note to talk to Dustin before he left. He went back into the living room and Dustin walked past him to get more of the bowls, Chris following, still with the hitch in his step. After a few minutes, the two came back out, Chris carrying the remaining bowls while Dustin had nothing in his hands.

"Dustin, a word?" Mike stopped him.

"Sure." Dustin nodded and turned to Chris. "I'll be out in a minute."

"Okay." Chris smiled and left the house.

"So, what's up?" Dustin asked when they were in Mike's room.

"Last night, did you and Jennifer...?" Mike prompted.

"Yeah." Dustin shrugged. "Well, not last night, rather this morning. It was so awesome."

"Did she make the move?"

"No, I did." Dustin grinned proudly. "I woke up and was spooning her and she was rubbing my hand. So I thought to myself, why not try to make a move and touch her pussy. I figured, if she woke up I could pretend to have been doing it in my sleep."

"Then what?" Mike wanted to know, seeing that Dustin was telling the truth.

"When she grabbed my hand, I thought I was busted." Dustin giggled. "But she simply pressed my hand harder on her. So I reckoned, why not try something more. So I slowly got up, took off her bottoms and when she spread her legs in invitation, I couldn't stop myself."

"So you had sex?"

"Eventually, I licked her first but then we did. And boy, did I need that." Dustin sighed in content.

"So, what are you planning with her?" Mike asked.

"No idea." Dustin shrugged. "I'm a bit hesitant to throw myself into another relationship, since I do it with all my heart when I do. But I'll keep my options open."

"First gut instinct?" Mike smiled, wanting his buddy to be happy.

"To be honest, when I took off her bottoms and saw what she was offering, I almost wept." Dustin grinned.

"I'm not going to ask." Mike shook his head.

"I looked, tasted and felt better than my ex."

"I didn't ask!" Mike made a face and turned around to go back to the living room.

"And when I entered her..."

"Dustin!" Mike yelled and hastened his step.

"Come on, you told me about El." Dustin argued as they walked through the hallway.

"No, you asked and I didn't say anything about it." Mike corrected him.

"El told us you did it already."

"But not how." Mike winked. "And then..."

"Mike?" Dustin looked at his friend, wondering why he was silent of a sudden and saw a particular look in his eyes before he ran back into his room.

"What's wrong with Mike?" Jennifer asked when Dustin entered the living room, having seen Mike run off.

"No idea, he just got a weird look in his eyes and ran back into his room." Dustin shrugged.

"Don't disturb him unless it's an emergency." El gasped.

"Why, what is he doing?" Dustin wondered.

"Mike gets that look when inspiration strikes him, so he's most likely writing something for his next book now." she grinned.

"Uh, don't disturb him." Jennifer grinned as well.

"Dustin, you're coming?" Chris called from the outside.

"I'll be right out!" Dustin yelled back and turned to the girls. "Well, it has been very fun, we should do it again."

"We most definitely will." Jennifer giggled and to El's surprise, pressed kiss to Dustin's lips. "Bye, sweetie."

"Yes, bye." Dustin was definitely flustered as he left the house.

"That was quick." El smirked. "Sex in the morning and now already kisses goodbye?"

"Shut up!" Jennifer blushed.

"Wow, you're seriously blushing." El grinned. "Was he that good?"

"He was so sweet!" Jennifer gushed. "He only wanted to have me feel good. Other guys I had sex with, they never bothered about my orgasm, they only just chased their own."

"Damn, that girl can run!" Stacy groaned when she came into the house again, unleashing Bella who ran back to her doughnut.

"Problems?" El grinned.

"I have no idea how you manage to control her when you go on her walk." Stacy said. "I was barely able to keep up."

"Well, she listens to us." El winked as Mike returned from his room, looking relieved.

"By the way, since when do Andrew and Simon frequent a high brow bar like the one across the street?" Stacy wondered. "They're sitting out there, drinking a five bucks a cup coffee and talking about you."

"About me?" El looked at her surprised.

"Yeah, they sound as if they want to do something regarding you when the school year starts again because of our dog?" Stacy shrugged.

"Okay, I think this has gone on long enough." Mike growled. "It's time to teach them a lesson."

"Wait, wait." El stopped him when he tried to walk out of the house. "I have a better idea."

"Which is?" Mike asked.

"We wait until they leave and I go over there and ask the owner if we can plant a recording device." El suggested. "If that doesn't work, I'll tell my dad."

"You better." Mike huffed, not happy that she didn't want him to go to these guys.

"Also, if you go and beat them up, all you get for it is legal trouble." El pointed out.

"Fine." Mike accepted.

During the morning, Mike, El and Stacy took turns, each one looking out of the front door window to see if the two guys had left. It took until early afternoon before their table was empty again, indicating that both had left and El left the house with Mike in tow, crossing the street and entering the bar where the barkeeper was standing behind the counter, polishing a glass while a waitress was taking care of a pair of customers sitting at a table to their right.

"What will it be?" the man asked.

"Actually, we wanted to ask you something." El said. "The two guys that were here until a few minutes ago, how often to they come here?"

"Almost every day." the man grumbled. "They usually order two drinks max and occupy a table for hours. Why?"

"My roommate overheard them talking about doing something to me, so I wanted to ask if I could place a recording device here." El decided not to beat around the bush.

"I'm sorry mam, that would not only be bad for business but also against the law." the man shook his head.

"I understand." El sighed. "Thank you anyway."

"I hope you... wait a second." the man suddenly perked up. "Aren't you Jane Ives?"

"It's Hopper now but I was, yes." El nodded confused. "Do I know you?"

"I'm Stephen Feldman, but we never met. I served with your father in Iraq." the man smiled, showing his marine tattoo. "He showed us pictures of you and your mother when we were deployed."

"Well, that's me." El smiled.

"So I guess Terry remarried?" he referred to her new last name.

"Actually, my mother passed away when I was sixteen." El said sadly. "Cancer. Hopper then adopted me."

"Oh no, I'm so sorry." Stephen gasped. "Wait, Hopper? Jim Hopper? Chief of Police Jim Hopper?"

"Yes." El nodded.

"Damn, Jimmy made it to police chief." Stephen laughed. "Listen, if those two show up again, I'll place a recording device myself. Then I'll listen to it and if I hear them talk about what you told me they might be talking about, I'll take of it myself."

"You would do that?" El was surprised.

"For Andrew's little girl?" Stephen looked amused. "Of course. The man saved my life on several occasions and since I couldn't be there to return the favor, the least I can do is help his little girl."

"Thank you so much." El was touched. "Want me to tell my dad about you?"

"Sure, he's welcome to come here for a beer." Stephen nodded.

"Will do." El smiled and waved at him. "Bye."

"Take care." Stephen waved after them.

"That was lucky." Mike chuckled. "Vitamin C rules the world."

"Vitamin C?" she looked at him confused.

"That means having connections." Mike elaborated.

"Cool" El grinned. "If it works and they truly talk about doing something bad to me and it gets recorded, my dad will have a field day."

"Yeah, I think they might spend some time in jail." Mike nodded. "Conspiracy to commit a crime and if it goes to trial, their chances will get even lower, depending on how well liked your dad is among the judge and the jurors."

"Well, enough of this talk." El said and dragged him to the house. "Lets take Bella and strap on our skates and get her to burn off some energy. Use the rare overcast day."

With that, they grabbed Bella and went on their skating run, their dog loyally running beside them.

* * *

**Well, this is the end of this chapter. Sorry the updates take so long these days but it's really stressful.**

**Still, review please :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**I thought that after Christmas and New Years, my workload would lessen. Boy, was I wrong. Workload has increased, and gotten even worse now that a few colleagues have been out sick for some time, forcing the rest of us to work even harder.**

**Guest: Unless I die, I will mark stories as finished or abandoned, depending on what happens. Updates may take a while though, real life has a tendency to ruin best laid plans**

**Still, enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and I write for my own pleasure and that of the readers.**

* * *

"Keep doing it slowly." Mike told her.

"Why not wide circles?" El wanted to know.

"Because in this case, slower prevents spilling." he explained as she dragged the wooden spoon through the pan. "If you go too fast, the liquid will land on the stove."

"Doesn't it burn then?" she wondered.

"Only if you keep the stove on full." he shrugged. "If you really want to stir fast, you need to do small circles but you have to make these circles at several points in the pan."

"Like this?" she asked, stirring quickly in the middle before moving the center of the whisk around the pan.

"Exactly." he nodded and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Ugh." she huffed. "Why did I ask you to teach me to cook."

"Because you want to do it sometimes too?" he grinned and dropped another kiss, this time on her neck.

"You know what makes this a little harder than I thought it would?" she sighed in content.

"What?"

"You're fingers dipping below the waistband of my shorts and underwear."

"Want me to stop?"

"No." she giggled. "I want you to go further."

"As you wish." he chuckled and dipped his fingers lower but just as she wanted to moan, the kitchen door swung open, causing Mike to quickly remove his hand out of her pants but not stepping away from her.

"Hey Max." El greeted the newcomer.

"Blech." Max huffed and flopped down on a stool at the kitchen island.

"You look frustrated." El tried to suppress a grin.

"Shut up!" Max grumbled. "First I had my damn period and this week, they make Lucas work double shifts at afternoon and night, so we can't spend any time together at all."

"It can't be that bad." El said.

"Easy for you to say, you're getting some." Max retorted. "And going by the looks and sounds of it, you're getting some real good."

"Well, Mike and I... wait a second!" El gasped after her brain had processed what Max had said. "What do you mean by the looks and sounds of it? Especially the looks!"

"Mike has his window open at night and when mine is open too, I can hear you." Max shrugged. "And I may have stood outside his door to listen more closely once or twice."

"Jesus Christ, Max." El blushed.

"And the looks part?" Mike asked.

"Come on, I walked in on you having sex on the couch." Max stated. "And when Mike forgets to close his closet, the mirror on its door gives me a good view at him slamming his cock into your pussy from behind."

"Oh my god!" El blushed even harder.

"Note to self, always close closet door." Mike blushed as well.

"Frankly El, I'm surprised you're still alive." Max chuckled. "The way Mike's fat cock seems to split you open every time he plunges it into you."

"Max, please stop talking about my boyfriend's penis." El groaned.

"El, we're best friends, right?" Max looked at her.

"Right now, I'm seriously reconsidering it." El grumbled.

"Best friends share, right?"

"Max, no!" El stated resolutely.

"Oh, come on, just once." Max pleaded.

"What does she want to borrow?" Mike wanted to know, looking at El.

"What do you think?" El rolled her eyes.

"I really don't know." Mike shrugged.

"You." El pointed him.

"Me?" he looked at her confused. "Wait, she wants you to share me?"

"Would that be so bad?" Max shrugged. "Mike, I could really rock your world."

"Be that as it may, my world is rocked more than enough by the woman I love." he laughed and dropped another kiss on El's cheek. "Also, even if I were single, there's no way I'd do it with one of my best friend's girlfriends."

"What's for lunch?" a cheery Jennifer asked when entering the kitchen with Stacy in tow.

"You've got to be kidding me." Max groaned and let her head fall into her arms on the table.

"What now?" Mike wondered.

"Look at her." Max pointed at the blond. "She got some last night. So did Stacy."

"How do you know that?" Stacy asked.

"You didn't come home last night." Max shrugged. "Though based on your body language, the guy you picked up last night wasn't that good."

"I think Eduardo spoiled me." Stacy mused. "Man, I miss his cock."

"Is it bigger than Mike's?" Max asked, causing the man to blush once more as he poured the spaghetti into a strainer.

"How would I know?" Stacy looked at her friend. "I don't know Mike's cock."

"Well, Mike's is like this." Max said and held her hands a certain distance apart before using her thumb and index finger to show the girth."

"Jesus!" Stacy gasped. "Alright, bigger than Eduardo's."

"Oh, come on." Mike groaned. "Can you please stop talking about my penis?"

"Alright, how's Dustin's penis?" Max turned to the blond who had stayed quiet so far.

"What's for lunch?" Jennifer asked, ignoring Max.

"Thank you, Jennifer." Mike sighed in relief. "Spaghetti carbonara."

"Oh, I know that." Jennifer's face lit up. "Ate it in school a few times. And given your cooking skills, it should be good."

"El made the sauce." Mike told them as he brought the bowl with the spaghetti to the kitchen island.

"Uuuh, maybe we should order in?" Stacy gave a scared smile.

"Hey!" El waved the wooden spoon. "A little trust please. I'm not Jennifer."

"Are you saying I cook worse than you?" Jennifer feigned insult.

"I never burned water." El pointed out.

"Aw, come on, that happened once." Jennifer whined.

"Don't worry, I made sure she did it properly." Mike chuckled.

"I feel calmer already." Jennifer poked out her tongue.

El brought the sauce over, handing it to Mike who then put it over everyone's spaghetti after the girls had taken their fill. He sat down as well and they began eating, talking about this and that while Mike stayed quite, content to listen to them but hoping that the conversation wouldn't go to the topic of his manhood again.

This lunch was another proof that women and men seemed to speak different languages. Mike had never heard a quartet of people talk about more topics in such a short time span, ranging from men to celebrities to plans for the future and to complaints about partners, though the last mainly came from Max and her need to be with her boyfriend again before she truly jumped out of her skin or worse, as El noted during the talks, before she jumped Mike.

"Anyone wants seconds?" Mike asked, standing up.

"Nah, you're the only one with the bottomless stomach around here." Stacy waved him off. "The rest of us have a figure to maintain."

"Just more of you to love." Mike chuckled.

"But not thirty pounds." Stacy retorted with a grin and got up. "So, any plans for today? Aside from having to listen to Max whine about not seeing Lucas and preventing her from tying up El, so she can jump Mike's huge cock."

"Not a bad idea." Max gave an evil leer at El and Mike.

"Not again." Mike groaned. "I cooked, you do the dishes. I'm going to write."

To Stacy's and Jennifer's laughter, Mike retreated to his room, closing the door and leaning against it, taking a deep breath. While the banter was fun, sometimes it was hard to sit there as the only man in the house, no matter that his roommates were all beautiful women and the, to his eyes, prettiest one of them his girlfriend.

He sat down at his desk and leaned back in his office chair, booting up his laptop and opening his writing program, the application dutifully showing him the last page he had written. He scrolled back up to the beginning of the chapter, reading it again to get back in the groove and then opening up his notes to look at the plot points he had thought out before even starting to write a single word of the book itself.

Looking at the page count, he calculated it into the book sized edit and gave himself a pat on the back. Just over a month since he handed in the final manuscript of his current book and he was a quarter through writing the next one, giving him a lot of time to develop his fantasy series before having to hand it in, even making it possible for him to maybe develop a fourth part up to a second trilogy for this book series if his publisher asked for it. As he was thinking it, his cell phone rang with a familiar number on the display.

"Speak of the devil." he chuckled to himself and accepted the call. "Hello, Diana."

"Mike, you got a minute?" Diana asked. "I got Lisa for you."

"Sure." Mike agreed, his nod unseen by the woman on the other end of the line.

"Mike?" a second voice came from the speaker. "It's Lisa."

"I kinda inferred that when Diana said that she has Lisa for me." Mike joked.

"Smart ass." Lisa chuckled. "So listen, I wanted to ask if you were open for a book launch party. We'd do it... in ten days, on Saturday."

"I don't know." Mike sighed. "I use a pseudonym for a reason, I don't want people to know who I am."

"I still don't understand why that is." Lisa said. "Why wouldn't you?"

"Because I'm a college student and I know from overhearing girls that several dozen of them have read my book." Mike shrugged, a gesture Lisa couldn't see. "The last thing I want is them coming on to me because they think I'm a celebrity. Not to mention that I have a girlfriend now that I love very much and I don't want to lose her because of the stress this would cause."

"Alright." Lisa agreed. "But I'd like you to reconsider. The book party is a closed event with handpicked guests and my bosses, none of whom is younger than thirty. It's mostly company bigwigs and partners who want to meet our newest hot iron in the furnace."

"I always hated that expression." Mike made a face.

"Why?" Lisa asked.

"Well, what do you do with a hot iron from a furnace?" Mike asked rhetorically. "You beat and beat it until it looks the way you want."

"Jesus, I hate talking to people who know words." Lisa laughed. "Fine, our newest strawberry pop-tart."

"What?" Mike couldn't help but laugh as well.

"Because nobody hates pop-tarts?" Lisa giggled. "Saturday, five pm. I'll send you the address later. Bring your girlfriend."

"Okay." Mike accepted. "See you then, Lisa."

"Bye Mike." Lisa said and hung up.

Mike sighed, not really looking forward to that but pushed it aside, taking his laptop and beginning to type the next chapter.

* * *

"OH YES, FUCK ME HARD! REALLY PUNISH THAT PUSSY!"

"What the actual fuck?" Mike gasped when he entered the living room, seeing Stacy and Jennifer sitting on the sofa, watching TV, wearing headphones.

"What?" Jennifer asked, taking off hers.

"What is going on?" he pointed to Max's room where those loud exclamations were still coming from.

"It's been three weeks since they had sex last, five days before Max's period begins again and Lucas has the day off." Jennifer shrugged, really looking at Mike wearing an elegant suit. "Wow, you clean up nice."

"Thanks." Mike blushed, straightening his bow tie.

"Where are you off to dressed like that?" Stacy wanted to know.

"My publisher is hosting a private event to usher in the release of my new book." Mike shrugged. "Didn't really wanna go but it may be a good thing to meet the people who made my success possible."

"Aren't we the people who made that possible since we bought your book?" Jennifer grinned.

"You guys got my second for free." Mike winked at them. "But yes, that's why authors appear at things for fans. But not those using a pseudonym to hide their identities."

"Why would you hide it?" Stacy shook her head. "If you hadn't, you would have gotten so much pussy even before moving in here."

"Because I want a real relationship without having to fear that the woman who proclaims her undying love for me is only in it for the money and slash or the fame it brings to be with a successful author." Mike told them.

"If what Max was saying is true, they'd probably also stay with you for your cock." Stacy giggled, causing Mike to groan again while El came out of her room. "In the name of all that's holy!"

"Jesus, where did you get that dress and why haven't I borrowed it since you got it?" Jennifer gasped when she saw El.

"Mike bought it for me when we went to San Francisco and this is the first opportunity for me to wear it." El smiled happily and did a little twirl for the girls.

"This dress looks like it was made for you." Stacy gushed.

"I know!" El almost squealed.

"I need to wear this too." Jennifer almost drooled.

"No way!" El shook her head vigorously. "The only skin this dress will cover is mine."

"Come on, we always borrowed each others clothes." Stacy whined.

"Yeah, because I usually wear clothes that are a bit bigger than I need for comfort but this dress is so snug that I can't have it let out by you guys wearing it." El shrugged.

"Are you saying that we're fat?" Jennifer gasped.

"No, just that you're bigger than me." El poked out her tongue.

"Honey, we should..." Mike began but was interrupted by a loud crash, followed by more screaming and exclamations.

"What the hell are these two doing in there?" El looked into the direction of Max's room.

"They're apparently doing the Moonlighting thing now." Mike chuckled.

"The what thing?" Stacy looked confused.

"Don't you know the show Moonlighting with Bruce Willis and Cybill Sheppard?" Mike asked, Stacy shaking her head. "Well, they had this will they/won't they thing going and then the show put them together and they destroyed the apartment during the lovemaking that followed."

"Why is it called the Moonlighting curse then?" Stacy wanted to know.

"Because the show became boring and soon ended." Mike shrugged. "So by putting them together, they doomed the show."

"I think it's different today." Stacy said.

"It is." Mike agreed. "Though, I think the problem with Moonlighting was also that Cybill Sheppard was pregnant with twins and she couldn't be there for a while afterwards. And Bruce Willis went on to make Die Hard, one of the greatest non-science fiction movies EVER."

"You never watched it here." Jennifer pointed to the TV.

"I do have my own TV in my room." Mike laughed. "But if you have made two people a couple and then you can't have them in scenes together for half a season afterwards because one of the actors is on maternity leave, even the greatest writers can't make that work."

"I think some shows go too far in the other direction." Stacy mused.

"What?" Mike looked at her. "You mean the characters hating each other?"

"No, dragging this will they/won't they out way too long." Stacy elaborated. "Like the Josh and Donna thing on The West Wing."

"Fully agree." Mike nodded. "Or Fox Mulder and Dana Scully on the X-Files. Drag it out too long and people stop caring."

"Mike, shouldn't we leave?" El asked.

"Right." Mike nodded and led her outside.

"I hope the dress is okay for the event." El worried.

"You look amazing." Mike smiled at her as he opened the passenger door for her.

"The last time I wore so much makeup was for my prom." she chuckled. "Too bad my date turned out to be a moron."

"How so?" Mike wanted to know as he got into the driver's seat.

"When he picked me up and I came down the stairs, he actually said, with my dad, who's the chief of police, standing next to him, that he couldn't wait to have sex with me tonight." El rolled her eyes at the memory.

"Oh my god!" Mike guffawed, glad that he wasn't driving yet. "Of all the things to say."

"He seemed to be under the impression that prom couples always have sex, like it's a rule."

"What did your dad say?"

"He grabbed him by the neck, pushed him against the wall and growled, and I quote, 'If you touch her, I'll hang you with your own colon while you choke on your own dick!'." El laughed. "Needless to say, he didn't get lucky that night, at least not with me. The date also kinda went downhill from that point on, he didn't even dare dance with me unless it was a quick one without touching."

"Oh lord." Mike laughed and started the car.

"So, why didn't you get lucky on your prom night?" El wondered.

"Me and the guys all went stag." Mike shrugged. "I was a scrawny nerd with a bowl-shaped haircut, not many girls find that hot. The others weren't that different."

"Well, can't say I'm unhappy about it." she giggled.

"What, why?" he gasped.

"Because if you had gotten lucky, you may not have come here, may have a family already and we wouldn't have met." she told him, putting her hand on his leg.

"True." he nodded. "May sound corny but after meeting you, every push down by a bully, every rejection by a girl was worth it."

"Aw, love you." she gushed. "You and your words."

"Well, I am a writer." he laughed and concentrated on the road.

While they came closer to San Francisco, El hoped that her dress would fit the occasion. Mike certainly didn't mind, his hand moving over her bare knee and gently moving across the fabric covering her thigh. His car's AC was blowing cool air into the cabin, preventing her from sweating and she hoped that they wouldn't have to be outside for too long, not wanting to have any stains on her dress before the evening even got started. She had no idea how Mike would cope in his suit and tie.

After about ninety minutes of him moving through the evening rush hour traffic of San Francisco, they finally arrived at the event location, several high end cars outside showing that people with means were present. Mike snaked his car onto the small parking lot next to the building, parking it in the shade and getting out so he could open the passenger door for her again.

Smiling, she took his hand and after he had locked the car, she hooked her arm under his elbow and let him lead her to the entrance where he showed a card to an usher who then let them inside. After stepping through the second door into the main room, she was hit by a blast of cool air, the air condition in the building keeping the heat of the day outside. She noticed several people, male and female, though the majority of the women present were looking half the age of the men. To El's chagrin, almost to a person, the women filled out their dresses and then some, making her a bit self-conscious about her physical appearance.

"What's wrong?" Mike asked, noticing her stance.

"I feel a bit... under-endowed." she pointed to her chest.

"But yours are real." he chuckled and pressed a light kiss on her cheek as to not smudge her makeup. "And in my eyes, they're perfect."

"Come to think of it, it would be quite the coincidence if all of these young women had naturally big breasts like that." she agreed. "Why did these men bring their daughters here? Do they want to set them up with you?"

"Actually, those aren't their daughters." an approaching Lisa preempted Mike's reply. "Hello, Mike."

"Lisa." Mike shook her hand. "You remember my girlfriend El?"

"Nice to see you again." Lisa smiled at her.

"What did you mean, not their daughters?" El asked.

"They brought their wives." Lisa chuckled.

"Uh... they have wives half their age?" El wondered.

"Old men, midlife crisis?" Lisa looked at her. "Or, in Warren's case, endlife crisis."

"Who's Warren?" Mike asked and Lisa pointed to a very old looking man, who had his hand around the waist of a girl who looked like his granddaughter. "Seriously?"

"Wow, I knew that some women would do anything for a big payday but come on." El giggled. "Do these guys even care that the women actually don't like them?"

"What makes you say that?" Lisa asked, looking at the other guests.

"Every time their... husbands put their hands on them, they slightly flinch." Mike explained. "Not really a sign of a loving relationship when you have to essentially force yourself to relax when your spouse is close."

"I forgot that you study psychology." Lisa shook her head, chuckling. "And you too, I presume?"

"Yep." El nodded. "So, who has Mike to sweet talk?"

"He doesn't really, his sales numbers have done that." Lisa shrugged.

"What do you mean?" Mike wanted to know.

"Haven't you checked your email?" Lisa looked at him.

"Not since this morning." Mike shook his head.

"The pre-orders for your second book have cracked the three million mark today." Lisa smiled.

"What?" Mike gasped.

"That's great, isn't it?" El asked.

"Of course it is." Lisa winked at her. "It made these guys so happy that they want him to write even more books, make it a series."

"Well, I'm already writing the third one." Mike said.

"I'm talking about more than that."

"I don't know." Mike hesitated. "I wouldn't want to drag it out too much."

"He's writing a fantasy novel, though." El revealed.

"You are?" Lisa looked at Mike.

"Not writing writing." Mike stammered. "More like setting outlines and possible plot points."

"Well, if you have something concrete for me to read, give it to me and I can give it to the brass." Lisa shrugged. "We may publish it too."

"Thanks, I will." Mike nodded.

"So, ready to meet the old geezers who're making all the money you bring in?" Lisa grinned.

"Lets get this over with." Mike nodded and looked to the right, seeing long table filled with food. "At least there's a buffet."

"And an open bar." Lisa laughed.

"Well, I'm driving, so not for me." Mike sighed.

"Warren, this is Mike Wheeler, also known as Marl Young." Lisa introduced Mike to the oldest man in the room. "And his girlfriend Jane Hopper."

"Very nice to meet you." Warren held out his somewhat bony hand before pointing to the young woman next to him. "This is my wife Tina."

"Hi!" Tina greeted him, El almost flinching back at her shrill voice. "It's so great to meet you!"

"Likewise." Mike smiled, managing to keep a straight face.

"How does the old guy still hear with that voice of hers?" El whispered to Lisa once they were away.

"He had a hearing problem before meeting her, so I doubt it matters to him." Lisa chuckled and approached the next people. "Bill, Carlos, Ted, this is Mike Wheeler aka Marl Young."

"Very nice to finally meet you." the one named Carlos replied for the group, shaking Mike's hand before his eyes fell on El. "And who is this stunning beauty?"

"I'm Jane." El smiled at the man. "I'm his girlfriend."

"Congratulations." Carlos grinned at Mike. "You're one lucky man."

"Don't I know it." Mike also smiled.

El and Mike were dragged by Lisa to two more people, being introduced to men who were all glad to meet him, which wasn't surprising given how Lisa had told them how Mike made them some good money, since the publisher took almost ninety percent of the book sale money.

"Lisa, does your publishing house not have other authors?" El asked her when they had some time alone.

"Of course, why?"

"The way these guys are gushing over Mike, I wasn't sure since none of those seem to be here." El shrugged.

"Well, it's an event for the release of his book, we rarely invite other writers we publish for those." Lisa told her. "And to be fair, Mike did make us a lot of money."

"But is is that much?"

"Did he ever tell you how many copies of his first book was sold?" Lisa smiled.

"No, I never asked." El shrugged.

"It sold almost seven million copies since its release and when we started the ad campaign for the next one, almost half a million more copies were sold."

"So, a buck twenty-five times seven million..." El did the math in her head. "But wait, Mike said he negotiated with you for more money."

"Yes, but that's only for his second and third book." Lisa explained. "Every copy of his first book is still under the first contract."

"So, seven and a half million copies times a buck twenty-five..." El did another round of math. "Jesus Christ!"

"Oh yeah." Lisa smiled. "And remember, the publisher gets the rest of a twenty dollar sale. So you see, it's no wonder we agreed to his terms given how much money he made us with just one book."

"Oh man." El's head was still spinning after realizing just how wealthy Mike actually was and she quickly downed her champagne flute, grabbing another from the buffet table.

"Hey girls." a cheery Mike approached them with an empty plate. "Getting along?"

"Of course." Lisa grinned. "The last thing I wanna do is piss you off by not liking your girlfriend."

"Well, you don't have to like her but you will have to bear her presence." Mike winked and took some of the offered food. "You want some too?"

"Not right now, thanks." El shook her head, still unsure how she should approach the money topic or if she should approach it at all.

"Everything okay?" Mike saw her being distracted.

"Yes." she smiled to calm him, aware that he could read her body language the same way she could read his.

Taking another long swig of champagne, El began to worry if Mike would think that she was only with him for his money.

* * *

**Stopping point here. Otherwise, I may not release this for another week, since I will have very inconvenient shifts this week**

**I'll really try to write some more, I promise.**

**Review please :)**


	15. Chapter 15

**Jesus, I'm so busy these days. Writing becomes harder and harder to do, so I apologize for these long delays :(**

**Still, enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and I write for my own pleasure and that of the readers.**

* * *

"What are you doing up so early?" a sleepy Max asked Mike when she saw him sitting in the kitchen, nursing a cup of what looked to her like tea. "It's five in the morning."

"I could ask the same about you." Mike retorted.

"I had to pee but you don't see me making a cup of tea." Max poked out her tongue as she took a glass and filled with with water.

"Can't sleep." Mike shrugged.

"El keeping you up?" Max grinned. "You two have certainly increased the amount of sex you do."

"Not this time." Mike chuckled. "My book's getting officially released today, I'm a bit nervous."

"Why?" Max wondered. "El said that three weeks ago, during your party, you were told that the pre-orders had passed the three million mark. Isn't that a bestseller already?"

"I know." Mike sighed. "Still, it's jitters. I doubt I will ever get rid of those no matter if I released twenty bestsellers beforehand."

"So, now tell me, what's going on between you and El?" Max asked, sitting down at the kitchen island.

"What do you mean?" Mike wondered.

"Come on." Max scoffed. "Ever since that book party, you two had so much more sex than usual. I mean, you do it in the morning, the evening and don't think I haven't noticed you doing it during the day too."

"Huh." Mike hummed, seeing the logic in Max's words.

She was right. While he and El had regular intercourse, ever since that party, it had become a lot more frequent. And most of the time, it was El who was initiating it and the few times Mike did, El immediately agreed by her actions, even when he had seen her dead tired after a hard day of training. Up until now, he never thought about, way too happy that it was happening that frequent but Max's words had awoken a concern in him that El was doing it because something happened during the party.

"You know what, you're right." Mike admitted. "I really should talk to her and ask if something's going on."

"I didn't want to put a bug in your ear." Max apologized. "Just wanted to know."

"No, not your fault." Mike shook his head. "Now that I know, I can maybe find out if there's a special reason for why she's so much more affectionate than usual."

"Well, I'm heading back to bed." Max said after downing her water. "Got some more sleep before I get to wake Lucas the way he loves."

"With his penis in your mouth?" Mike lifted an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah." Max nodded and got up, turning around to face Mike one more time. "One more thing."

"Yes?" he looked at her.

"Offer still stands." she winked and opened her robe, revealing her naked body.

"Tempting, but no." Mike laughed. "You realize if I ever tell El you did this, she will shove her foot so far up your ass that you will taste her nail polish."

"You're a strong man." Max was impressed. "I don't know many straight men who'd say no if I offered myself to them."

"I love El too much to even think about cheating on her." Mike told her. "Doesn't matter if the woman offering herself to me is Miss World."

"Well, I think I'll head back to bed and prepare myself for waking up Lucas." she grinned and walked out of the kitchen.

"Unbelievable." Mike chuckled and took another sip before grabbing a water bottle from the fridge for El.

He walked back to his room, where he found his love still in bed, sleeping soundly. The comforter was down a bit, revealing her naked breasts and his manhood began stirring, though he worked hard at suppressing it for now. When he put the water bottle down, El's eyes opened, her mouth twitching up into a smile.

"Morning." she hummed and turned onto her back and Mike could see that she was sore if not hurting. "What time is it?"

"Just after six." he told her and got back into the bed.

"Come here you." El smiled and climbed on top of him, leaning down to kiss him.

"Wait." he stopped her.

"What, morning breath to severe?" she wondered and grabbed the water.

"That too, but that's not why I stopped you." he sighed. "El, what's going on?"

"What do you mean?" she looked at him.

"I didn't really notice before, since I was too busy enjoying it, but Max pointed out to me that since that book release party we went to, we had had a lot more sex than before." he answered.

"And that's bad how?" she became apprehensive.

"El, you're hurting, I saw it when you turned around just after waking up." he sighed. "So please, what's going on?"

"Please don't leave me." she began crying, falling forward to hug him.

"What?" Mike was momentarily too stunned to even hug her back. "Why would I leave you?"

"I'm not with you for your money." El sobbed. "I love you."

"El, look at me!" he demanded and pushed her upper body back up, her eyes meeting his. "I know you don't want me just for my money."

"How can you?"

"Because unless you lied about it, you fell in love with me before you knew that I was a writer." he told her. "Before you knew I had money."

"I didn't lie." she was adamant.

"And I believe you." he nodded, seeing no signs of her lying. "So, as much as I enjoyed all that sex, please don't overexert yourself anymore. I hate to see you in discomfort."

"Thank god!" she rolled off of him. "My pussy is so sore."

"Remember that it was mostly you who initiated the sex." he chuckled.

"You know, Max was right." she sighed.

"About what?"

"You really are splitting me in two with that giant dick of yours."

"Yeah, yeah." he laughed and rolled her into his arms, spooning her.

"WHOOHOO!" they both heard coming from outside the open window.

"What the hell?" El wondered. "That sounded like Max."

"Probably doing things to Lucas again." Mike chuckled as El got up to look out the window to see if something was amiss.

"I don't fucking believe it." El laughed.

"What's going on?" Mike wondered and stood up to stand behind her, looking at what she was looking.

"No, don't look!" El tried to stop him but Mike was already there.

"What the fuck? Did she move her bed?" he asked, seeing Max's body bounce up and down, her legs spread and her breasts swaying to the rhythm she had and small parts of Lucas' body visible.

"I think they're doing it on her desk." El mused and turned around to look at Mike's face. "And stop ogling my best friend."

"I'm not ogling her." he laughed, wrapping his arms around her body and inadvertently poking her with his growing erection. "But it's like a car crash, hard to look away."

"And you react to it." she said accusingly, though she too was affected.

"Who wouldn't." he shrugged as they watched Max open her eyes, look straight at them and give them a wink before she grabbed her breasts and played with her nipples.

"What the..." El gasped. "Did she just...?"

"I think she did." Mike laughed and pulled El away.

"Well, now you have seen her naked." El sighed, once again feeling a little subconscious given that Max's breasts were bigger than hers, even though not by much.

"And not for the first time." Mike chuckled before realizing what he had said.

"What?" she shrieked. "When?"

"Uh..." he stammered but then deflated. "This morning, when I was in the kitchen. She opened her robe and told me that the offer still stood."

"What did you tell her?" El gasped, feeling her ire rise.

"The usual." he shrugged. "That I loved you too much to ever think about cheating on you. And that I wouldn't risk my friendship with Lucas for a booty call."

"Okay, that's it." El huffed. "Max's ass, get ready to meet my foot."

"You could use a wooden spoon when she's least expecting it." he suggested with a smirk, sitting against the headboard of his bed.

"Ew!" El gagged. "I won't shove a wooden spoon up her ass, we'd never get the stink off of it again."

"We could buy a new one." Mike laughed. "But I meant that you could whack her one on the ass with the spoon when she's least expecting it."

"Huh, I might do that." she nodded. "You know, this soreness sucks."

"Is it that bad?"

"No, but normally, I'd screw your brains out right now to get the image of my friend naked out of your head." she moped. "Or kicking her ass because she showed you that image."

"See, if you hadn't been so affectionate the last two weeks, you could do that." he joked.

"You know, come to think of it, you saw naked parts of all of my roommates already." El pointed out. "Stacy took off her shirt and bra in front of you and Jennifer more or less rode your face with only a thong on under her skirt."

"Yeah, I kinda have that effect on the ladies." Mike tried to be arrogant but couldn't stop himself from laughing.

"Shut up!" she laughed with him and dropped a kiss on his lips.

"Now come on, since we can't have sex, why don't we go out for some breakfast?" she asked, getting up. "Your treat."

"Good that we have that decided." he said sarcastically and got up as well.

"Consider it a punishment for ogling my best friend." she poked out her tongue and gave him a whack on his ass before running out of the room to get to the bathroom.

* * *

"Too bad that Dustin didn't want to come." Mike sighed as he opened the door, Will and Chris also exiting his car. "Do any of you know what's going on with him?"

"Not really." Will shrugged. "Probably problems with Jennifer. Otherwise, why would he be this glum."

"He sounded so normal yesterday when we made the final plans for tonight's poker game." Mike argued.

"It happened after lunch." Chris said. "We talked about his upcoming sixth week anniversary with her and then he had to make a phone call and afterwards, he was like that."

"Maybe she broke up with him during that call?" Will suggested as Mike opened the door.

"What the...?" he was surprised when he saw the girls on the couch and El on the armchair, Jennifer sitting in the middle with a blanket over her and a large amount of wet tissues around her, another held in her hand with which she constantly wiped tears. "What's going on? Did something happen?"

"As if you don't know!" Jennifer yelled at him.

"Seriously Mike, I really thought you were a good guy." Stacy shook her head and even El looked sat at him.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Mike was completely gobsmacked, looking at Will and Chris who also could only shrug.

"I thought Dustin was your friend." Max said accusingly. "And Jennifer was always nice to you, but then you turn around and do this? You fucking..."

"HEY!" Mike shouted, everyone looking at him surprised, having never heard him loud like that. "I restate my questions and please someone give me a real answer. What the hell is going on and what did I supposedly do?"

"You told Dustin about my past relationships and my number of boyfriends." Jennifer wailed. "He called me this afternoon and broke up with me!"

"What?" Mike was confused. "I did no such thing!"

"Who else could it have been?" Jennifer gave him an angry glare, accentuated by her red-from-the-tears eyes. "Except the girls, you're the only one who knew about it and who also knows Dustin."

"Um..." Chris held up his hand and stepped forward. "I think that's my fault. I told Dustin."

"What?" Jennifer looked confused and shocked at him. "How would you know about my past? We've never met until Mike moved in here and introduced us to you guys."

"Bob told me." Chris shrugged.

"Who's Bob?" Jennifer looked even more confused, her tears momentarily forgotten.

"Robert Fallon?" Chris elaborated. "Maybe five foot six, kinda scrawny? Fair skin, freckles, reddish hair?"

"Oh, him! He's also a student at Cañada." Jennifer remembered. "I went on one date with him and we didn't even have sex. How do you even know him?"

"He's at Man-hatten's every day." Chris told her.

"Wait, I heard of this, isn't that a gay bar?" Max asked.

"A bar and club in one, yes." Chris looked at her. "So?"

"Why would Robert go to a gay bar?" Jennifer wondered.

"Because he's gay." Chris laughed.

"Why would he even go out with me then?" Jennifer mused. "No wonder he didn't react to my advances."

"To be fair, Bob's gayer than gay, he makes Chris look straight." Will chuckled. "He's also a nymphomaniac manslut."

"What does that mean?" Mike wanted to know.

"He essentially offers his ass to anyone in that bar who wants it." Chris laughed. "I don't think he ever wants to be the active part, he just wants cock inside his ass. Or mouth. But mostly ass."

"I have trouble reconciling that image with the one in my memory." Jennifer was doubtful. "I mean, he gave off some weird vibe but I'd have never pegged him as gay."

"We once saw him getting fucked by a guy at the club."

"What, they sneaked into a quiet corner, or so they thought?" Stacy chuckled.

"No, the club offers rooms at the back for exactly that purpose." Chris explained. "Customers don't have to pay rent for those rooms but are asked for a, ah... contribution... for changing the sheets and cleaning the room afterwards and they offer free condoms in those rooms too."

"I guess that's why they're getting away with it." Mike mused. "Otherwise, they'd have to register as a brothel or hotel, like those that rent rooms by the hour."

"What do you mean?" El asked.

"They don't charge for the rooms, just for contributions, which implies that this money is voluntary." Mike shrugged. "Then again, I'm not versed enough in that particular kind of law to really know about it."

"So, if they have secluded rooms, how did you see them?" Stacy inquired.

"One day he found a guy who's now his favorite fuck buddy and they didn't close the door." Chris chuckled.

"I think, given the guy, that he slammed the door shut but with so much force that it opened again and they simply didn't check before they began fucking." Will added. "I mean, we did see Bob's pants completely ripped apart on the floor."

"Jesus, they must have been in a hurry." Max shook her head. "I mean, I often felt a certain need with Lucas but we never ripped our clothes apart."

"Might have been because of the guy's strength." Will suggested. "Mike, you might know him, he plays on the Stanford football team."

"I don't know the guys on the team personally." Mike said. "No idea which one of them is gay."

"Maybe you have seen him?" Will tried again. "About six foot seven or thereabout, definitely close to three hundred pounds, short-cropped hair, a tattoo running up his neck to his left cheek, ten inch cock as thick as my forearm."

"NO WAY!" Mike shouted. "Leon Carpentier?"

"Maybe, I don't know his name." Chris shrugged.

"He's one of the linemen on the team." Mike said. "They call him Bulwark because nothing gets past him."

"Strange name." Max remarked

"He's from France." Mike explained. "Bit I've seen him date girls."

"Maybe he likes both?" El suggested. "I mean, who's the gay one. The guy who's shoving his dick inside another person's ass or the guy who takes it?"

"You're right." Will realized. "Never thought of it that way."

"Still, his dick is scarily big." Chris shuddered.

"How do you know so much about his penis?" Max wondered.

"If you happen to walk by a room with an open door and you see a six foot seven giant pound the ass of a guy half his size with what looks like a nine or ten inch cock that's as fat as my forearm like he's jumping on a trampoline, that's an image that gets seared into your brain." Will chuckled.

"I guess it would be." Max had to admit, still remembering the image of walking into the house and seeing El bounce on Mike's dick.

"I have to talk to Dustin." Jennifer suddenly jumped up and walked towards the door.

"No, you don't." Mike put out his arm to the side and stopped her.

"Let me go!" Jennifer tried to get out of his grasp.

"Jen, he's right." El walked up to her.

"I have to try." she argued. "God help me, I love that guy."

"That's why you shouldn't go." Mike told her. "I will go. He might just shut you out because he feels hurt."

"And I will go with him." El added. "If it comes from us, he might listen."

"Why would he feel hurt, he broke up with me?" Jennifer was offended.

"Remember when I told you why I didn't want you come on to him?" Mike looked at her. "Dustin wears his heart on his sleeves, he goes all in in a relationship and he has been hurt bad by his last girlfriend, so the reason he dumped you was most likely to protect himself from future hurt."

"I hate this!" Jennifer began crying again and ran to her room.

"Lets go." El said. "The quicker we get to Dustin, the faster we can sort this out."

"Agreed." Mike nodded. "Guys, there's beer in the fridge, enough snacks to go around and you can order some food if you want."

"Will do." Chris waved at them.

"Mike, wait!" Will called after them.

"What is it?" Mike asked.

"Here." Will said and threw something at Mike, which turned out to be the apartment keys.

"Thanks." El smiled and left the house, pulling Mike with her.

"But if you touch the casserole in the fridge, I will cut off your hand." Mike added before he closed the door.

"Oh oh." Will laughed as the front door closed. "He shouldn't have said that."

"Why?" Stacy asked.

"Casserole!" Chris drooled and walked briskly to the kitchen.

"He lives for that stuff." Will chuckled. "Especially if it's chicken pasta."

"Oh oh." Max facepalmed.

"CHICKEN PASTA!" they heard a loud yell from the kitchen.

"There goes our lunch for tomorrow." Stacy sighed but then looked at Max, who stared right back.

"CHRIS!" both yelled and ran to the kitchen, seeing Will's boyfriend shoving another large spoonful of casserole into his mouth, the dish already more than half empty.

"WHT?" he humbled as he chewed, a string of cheese still hanging from his mouth. "Cn't you shee I'm eatng?"

"That was our lunch for tomorrow." Max huffed. "How can you even eat that, it's cold."

"Your point?" Chris hummed and shoved another spoonful into his mouth. "Oh my god, this is so good."

"Yeah, Mike's an amazing cook, isn't he?" Will grinned as he joined them.

"Damn, if he were gay, I'd offer him my ass just for more of his cooking." Chris threw out before eating more.

"That hurts my feelings." Will moped. "You're asking to be punished again."

"If it's the same as last time, I look forward to it." Chris winked at him as he began scraping the remains of the casserole together with the spoon to finish it.

"We'll see if you still think that when I have your hands bound together while your head is hanging from the bed and I shove my dick down your throat." Will huffed.

"I was very, very bad boy." Chris giggled.

"You know, if you really wanna punish him, don't have sex at all." Max suggested.

"But where would be the fun in that?" Will wondered. "By the way, will Lucas join us?"

"He said he would, his shift should be over by now." Max nodded.

"Done." Chris said proudly and began washing out the dish.

"We're so proud of you." Stacy deadpanned and walked out of the kitchen again.

"Yeah, hope you had fun with your hand." Max added and grabbed a six-pack of beer from the fridge.

"Will Mike really cut if off?" Chris asked Will, a bit concerned.

"No." Will shook his head. "Maybe just a finger, but not your hand."

"Please smile so I know you're joking!" Chris pleaded as he followed Will out of the kitchen. "Will?"

Unbeknownst of what was playing out, El and Mike were driving to the guys' shared apartment, Mike in the driver's seat while El sat next to him, both wondering what they would or could say to Dustin. Mike remembered Dustin's crushed mood when no girl he asked for prom said yes, leading him to accompany the rest of the gang stag.

Mike knew that Dustin had always been a guy to go all out in any relationship, friends or more. He took what considered treason very seriously and while he often gave people second chances, regaining his trust was a time consuming process. In this case, Mike was sure that it would be easier, since Jennifer didn't really do anything to violate his trust, it was apparently only due to Dustin's concerns about getting his heart broken again in the future that he did what he did.

"We're here." Mike proclaimed and parked the car, both exiting it and going into the building before climbing the stairs to the fourth floor.

"Lets hope he'll listen to us." she said as Mike opened the door with the keys he had gotten from Will. "Dustin?"

"Dustin?" El repeated Mike's call, looking in the living room and kitchen but finding nobody.

"Dustin, you here?" Mike called out again, knocking on the door of his room.

"Leave me alone, Mike!" came the reply.

"Dustin, talk to us." El called back. "We know what happened."

"Leave me alone!" Dustin repeated.

"Can we come in?" Mike asked.

"NO!" Dustin yelled back quickly, making Mike and El look at each other.

"Tough." Mike shook his head and opened the door, seeing Dustin desperately trying to dry the tears on his face.

"I told you to stay out!" Dustin yelled again and turned around to hide his face.

"Dustin." El sighed and walked up to him, turning him around and simply hugging him.

"Why can't I have luck in love?" Dustin sniffed, collapsing into her embrace but El pushed him away and gave him a gentle slap. "Ow! What was that for?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" El asked. "You dump her and you complain about not having luck in love?"

"Do you know how many boyfriends she had?" Dustin asked incredulous.

"Yeah, nineteen in the past two years." Mike nodded.

"See? I don't want to be just an interlude number twenty before she continues with twenty-one to thirty." Dustin pointed out. "Wait a second, you knew and you didn't tell me?"

"It was not my place to tell you." Mike replied. "Also, I told her to stay away from you and she did until you initiated sex with her."

"But..."

"Dustin." Mike sighed, interrupting him. "Do you accept that I can read people well?"

"Yeah, it's scary sometimes." Dustin nodded, wondering where Mike was going with this.

"Then there's one thing you can believe." Mike continued. "Jennifer feels more for you than she did for any of her previous boyfriends."

"How would you know that?"

"Because she's crying at home." El told him."If she just saw you as a temporary conquest or interlude, would she do that?"

"I don't know." Dustin groaned, unsure of himself.

"Let me ask you something." Mike said. "When you think of her, what do you feel?"

"Are you kidding me?" Dustin scoffed. "Not a second goes by where I don't want to go to her, hold her, kiss her."

"Good." Mike smiled and walked behind him, where he started to push him forward.

"What are you doing?" Dustin asked, unable to resist Mike's push. "Jesus, when did you get so strong?"

"We're going to bring you to your girlfriend and you can sort things out." Mike laughed and pushed him out of the apartment.

"Okay, why did I come with you if all you had to do was push him?" El asked as she walked behind them, grinning.

"Because you volunteered." Mike poked out his tongue.

Dustin could only enter the car with apprehension. He had no idea what to expect.

* * *

**Chapter ends here. It's 11 pm now and early shift tomorrow. God, I hate getting up early -.-**

**Review please :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**I hope everyone out there is safe and sound in this pandemic crisis. Here's hoping you like the chapter.**

**Enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and I write for my own pleasure and that of the readers.**

* * *

"Morning." Max yawned, stepping into the kitchen and finding El at the stove, a wooden spoon going through a pan. "What are you making?"

"Scrambled eggs." El replied, not looking at Max.

"I think I'll have some toast." Max nodded, grabbing a glass from the cupboard and a juice carton from the fridge.

"Hey, it's scrambled eggs, there's not really a lot I could do wrong." El protested.

"You'd think." Max scoffed as she poured herself some juice. "You could burn it or you could have put too much salt in it. The eggs could have gone bad."

"I won't, I didn't and they haven't." El huffed, answering all her objections in order.

El kept her attention on the eggs, then remembered what Mike had said the morning before. She remembered the image of Max bouncing on Lucas on her desk, showing off everything, and also Mike's confession about what Max did before that in the kitchen when he was drinking tea. Rage flared in El's head and she turned her head to see her friend returning the carton into the fridge. Before she could take her glass, El took the wooden spoon into her other hand and swung as hard as she could.

"YEEEOOOOOW!" Max shrieked in pain when the kitchen utensil connected to her right butt cheek. "Jesus El! What was that for?"

"As if you don't know." El grumbled and turned off the stove before taking a step into her direction, only for Max to take a step back. "If you ever reveal your naked body in front of my boyfriend, I will hurt you. And then I will kick you out of this house. Am I making myself clear?!"

"Yes!" Max shouted, at the moment genuinely afraid of her best friend. "Painfully. I won't do it again."

"Good, see that you don't." El nodded and took the pan from the stove.

"You know I wasn't really trying to take him away from you, right?" Max said.

"I thought so at the beginning but showing yourself naked to him and saying that the offer is still on the table isn't quite joking anymore." El said.

"Alright, listen to me." Max sighed. "I never intended to actively seduce him. I won't anyway as long as he's with you and as long as I'm with Lucas. Also, he made it quite clear that he loves you too much to even contemplate cheating on you."

"Good." El nodded again, inwardly happy at Mike's proclamation. "Remember, we have more spoons."

"Jeez, when did you become so scary." Max shuddered. "Where has the virgin gone that wouldn't talk about sex?"

"She fell in love and gets lots of great sex now." El chuckled. "And I was scary before."

"Never to us." Max shook her head. "To creeps like Andrew, yes, but not us."

"Just remember, whenever you feel the urge to show your naked body to my boyfriend, don't." El smiled sweetly. "Because if you do, I will knock your teeth so far down your throat that you will have to shove a toothbrush up your ass to brush them."

"Holy crap." Max laughed. "I want the old El back."

"She's dead." El smirked. "Now get out of the way, I need to get this to my sweetie."

"You're serving him breakfast in bed?" Max was astonished. "Jesus, the sex last night must have been good."

"Seven orgasms." El singsonged as she walked past Max with the tray in hand.

"Oh, come on!" Max called after her, too astonished to even move.

El grinned to herself, knowing that her comment wouldn't help with the situation but at the same time, she felt that she had made her point rather well. When Mike had suggested that she should smack Max on the ass, she wouldn't have thought that the opportunity would present itself only twenty-four hours later. Still grinning, she entered Mike's room again and saw her sweetie turning onto his back, his eyes opening.

"Hey." he smiled. "How are you feeling?"

"Sore." she grinned. "But not painfully sore."

"Good. I was concerned when you said 'I'm coming' seven times last night." he breathed a sigh of relief.

"As I recall, I said it lot more than that." she chuckled. "I do tend to repeat myself when I'm climaxing."

"Well, no need to blush this time." he laughed. "Our erstwhile neighbors who spent the night in your bed drowned out everyone, even Max and Lucas."

"Yeah, that was a bad decision to offer them my bed." El nodded, flopping down on the bed. "Now feed me some eggs."

"I thought you brought this breakfast for me?" Mike grinned.

"But I'm hungry." El moped. "Eggs, and some bacon."

"Come on, lets head to the kitchen and make some more." Mike laughed and got up, taking the tray with him.

While Mike stood at the stove, cooking a lot more eggs and frying more bacon for everyone, as well as heating up some hot pockets, their roommates began to file in. El pointed at the can of coffee and the thermos where the contents of the first coffee can had been poured into and everyone poured themselves some before sitting down at the large kitchen island.

"Bella is walked. "Stacy said tired. "So, who else was kept away by our two love birds last night?"

"Jesus, I never thought they could be this loud." Max agreed.

"Exactly." Stacy nodded. "And I always thought Max and Lucas were loud."

"We're not that bad." Lucas huffed.

"Well, you're not." Stacy nodded. "All we can hear from you is grunting while Max shouts instructions."

"Hey." Max moped. "We're here to bitch about the others."

"Good morning." a cheery voice greeted them as two more people walked into the kitchen. "What's for breakfast?"

"You got some nerve." El stared at him. "Given how loud you were last night, you should be thankful if we don't throw you out of the house without opening the door first."

"It wasn't that bad, was it?"

"It was worse." Mike nodded. "Especially the part where you yelled, and I quote, 'You're destroying my ass, please go harder!', end quote."

"Sorry." Chris lowered his head.

"That reminds me." Mike got up and got a large cutting knife. "Put your hand on the table."

"What for?" Chris hid his hands behind his back.

"You ate my casserole." Mike squinted at him. "Did Will tell you about the punishment?"

"You're not actually cutting my finger off, will you?" Chris gasped, looking at the knife.

"Are you nuts?" Mike looked at him, slamming the knife into a lemon, slicing it into two halves. "This isn't the Yakuza or the Triads."

"Jesus." Chris breathed a sigh of relief that turned sideways when Mike put the lemon halves in front of him. "What now?"

"Suck on them." Mike gave him an evil smile. "Until they're dry."

"But it's so sour." Chris protested.

"I know." Mike grinned. "But a crime deserves a punishment."

"Come on, I only ate your casserole." Chris huffed.

"Which would have been our lunch for today." El pointed out. "So, imagine this is Will's dick and get sucking."

"At least Will's dick doesn't make my face turn inwards." Chris sighed and grabbed the first lemon half.

"Wait." Will stopped him and took out his phone, activating the camera. "I need to record this for prosperity."

"I hate you." Chris grumbled and put the half against his mouth, sucking hard, his face turning sour and shaking from the citric acid. "Jesus Christ!"

"One more." Mike pointed to the other half.

"Fuck." Chris took the second half. "Couldn't you have made me write 'I won't eat other people's food without their permission' a hundred times?"

"Way too easy." Mike shook his head. "Eat up."

"God." Chris winced and sucked the second lemon half dry as well, his face contorted almost in pain.

"Hope you learned your lesson." Will giggled.

"It wasn't my fault, it simply was tasting too good." Chris shrugged.

"If you pay me for the ingredients, I can make you some more." Mike chuckled.

"Jeez, that's a deal I will take." Chris nodded eagerly.

"I'll give you a list." Mike said before turning around. "Alright, food's done. We got eggs, bacon, toast and hot pockets."

"Finally, lets eat." Max said and everyone dug in.

"Um, where are Dustin and Jennifer?" Stacy asked. "They never came out of her room after you pushed him into it."

"We still heard them talk through the wall at three in the morning." Max told her.

"What were you doing up at three in the morning?" Will wanted to know.

"Grinding on my boyfriend's cock." Max shrugged, even though her direct answer made some of the others spit their coffee back into their cups or choke on the food.

"You were?" Lucas looked at her confused.

"Please tell me you're joking." Max squinted her eyes at him.

"Of course." he grinned, then shook his head a fraction at El and Mike who had trouble not to laugh.

"I'll go check on them, see if they want some breakfast." Stacy said and got up.

"What if they're naked in her bed?" El asked.

"Then we know that their talk went well." Stacy chuckled and left the kitchen, to return thirty seconds later. "Guys, they're not in her room."

"Maybe they left already to go to Dustin's place because someone kept them awake." Mike suggested, looking at both Max and Dustin as well as Chris and Will.

"Or maybe they didn't leave at all." El giggled after getting up to get some juice out of the fridge.

"What do you mean?" Mike asked, El just pointing at the window above the sink.

"Oh, nice." Mike grinned as he looked out the window, seeing Dustin and Jennifer snuggled together on one of the lawn chairs, a blanket covering them both. "Their talk must have been good."

"Or they were just tired." Max commented, having joined them. "We could see Jennifer or Dustin jump up in disgust when one wakes up."

"Gee, aren't you a ray of sunshine." El scoffed.

"Hey, I rode my boyfriend last night and he fell asleep while I was doing it, give me a break." Max huffed.

"I had a hard day at work, give me a break." Lucas justified it, repeating her own plea.

"I'm gonna break your hips bouncing on you if you ever fall asleep again." Max threatened him.

"Lucas, ever thought of uttering the words 'I'm not in the mood' when you're tired?" Chris asked.

"No, she likes that, she likes the challenge." he pointed to Max. "One time, she..."

"I don't think they need to hear that." Max stopped him.

"Oh, the lovebirds are awake." El pointed out when she noticed Jennifer sitting up and looking around.

"And what's the verdict on their relationship?" Stacy asked. "How's she reacting to waking up next to him?"

"Well, she just went back down and is devouring his face." El reported. "He's not reacting yet."

"Probably because he's just waking up and trying to figure out why he can't breath." Mike chuckled and watched as Dustin's arms enveloped Jennifer. "There we go, that's what I'm talking about."

"As long as they can refrain from having sex." Stacy grinned.

"Good point." Mike nodded and banged on the window, getting Dustin's and Jennifer's attention just as she was about to take off her shirt. "If you guys feel the need to copulate, tell us in advance and we'll vacate the kitchen."

"Thanks for the warning that you're there." Dustin called back.

"Just in time, Jennifer was just about to disrobe." Mike told the group.

"You could have let her." Lucas shrugged, only to be rewarded with a slap on his head and a death glare from his girlfriend.

"Lucas, I think we need to have a talk about you speaking without thinking it through." Mike laughed.

"Hey, don't you dare." Max wiggled her finger at him. "If he stops blurting out stuff like this, I don't get to punish him anymore."

"Hey, he's a guy, I'm sure he'd do plenty of other stuff you can punish him for." Stacy winked at her.

"I resent that." came a unison rebuke from every male person in the room.

"Come, prove me wrong." Stacy challenged them.

"Well..." Mike began to think.

"We..." Will tried as well.

"Shit, I think she got us." Lucas admitted.

"Did I do something wrong already?" Mike turned to El.

"Oh yeah." she nodded with a grin.

"Really, what?"

"You completely ignored my advances a few times." El told him. "I was horny, I was willing, I was ready, I got naked and you didn't even look at me."

"Was I writing?" Mike asked.

"Yes."

"Then you can't hold that against me." he protested.

"Oh, you have no idea how that hurt me." El theatrically put a hand on her head as Dustin and Jennifer walked in.

"Ah well." Mike shrugged. "Luckily for me, I can make it up to you real easily."

"You're quite sure of yourself, Paladin." Dustin snickered, unaware of the conversation that happened before his entry.

"Oh, I am, you know why?" Mike grinned and got up, opening the cabinet and reaching for a box only he could reach with his height.

"Why, oh my mighty friend?" Dustin snickered.

"Because I'm loaded." Mike poked out his tongue, bragging with his wealth for the very first time since he got wealthy.

"Oh, you want to buy your way out of trouble?" El asked with a smirk.

"Yeah." Mike shrugged and handed her an envelope, which she opened.

"Oh." she gasped. "Oh my god, oh my god, OH MY GOD!"

"What?" Jennifer asked. "What, what what?"

"Come on, tell us what your rich friend gave you." Stacy begged. "A diamond ring? A diamond necklace? Diamond earrings?"

"You like diamonds, do you." Lucas looked at her.

"Oh, I'd go for Rubies, or emeralds or even sapphires." Stacy shrugged. "But diamonds still are a girl's best friend."

"So, what did he get you?" Max asked, poking El who had been staring at her gift.

"This." she grinned, spreading it out in her hands like a fan.

"Is this...?" Stacy gasped.

"It is." El nodded. "Four coupons for a fully paid gold star weekend at the Rosewood Sense Spa over in Menlo Park."

"Four?" Jennifer perked up. "As in...?"

"Well, it was supposed to be a present for all of you for my six month anniversary here but now it's hers and she gets to decide who to take with her." Mike explained.

"I love you so much." El jumped up, hugging Mike and kissing him hard.

"El, I'm a real good friend." Chris spoke up.

"You're too loud." El scoffed. "I'm taking my girls."

"YES!" Max whooped and got up to hug El.

"Max, remember, you're still on thin ice." El whispered into her ear.

"Don't worry, I got the message." Max whispered back as the other two girls joined the hug.

"When are we going?" Jennifer asked.

"The coupons are redeemable at any time, you just have to call and see if they have rooms available." Mike told them.

"I think we should go while we're still on summer break." El said. "After that, we'll be too busy with classes and projects."

"True." Jennifer nodded.

"How come you never buy us something nice like this?" Dustin huffed.

"Yeah, we're your best friends and we..." Lucas began but stopped talking when he saw Mike looking at the wall, whistling all the while holding five Comic-Con tickets spread in a fan like El had done with the Spa coupons. "Oh my god, I love you!"

"But why five?" Will asked as Lucas hugged Mike.

"Didn't you say Chris was a comic book aficionado?" he looked at his friend.

"Oh man, I'm definitely offering my ass to you." Chris whooped. "Sorry for the casserole."

"See what you've done?" Will asked accusingly but with a smile. "How come anyone you meet wants to have sex with you?"

"Well, what I have can't be taught." Mike shrugged, receiving an elbow into his midsection from El and laughing while holding the spot she hit.

"For which day are the tickets?" Dustin wanted to know.

"For all of them, of course." Mike winked at him. "Already booked two hotel rooms."

"Why not one large one?" Will asked.

"Because you and Chris are way too loud." Mike shuddered. "So I got two where the only wall we share is the one in the bathroom."

"Thanks man." Chris almost did a dance. "Are we going in costumes?"

"Well, we can take some, but we should figure out soon what we'll be going as, it's only a week away."

"Well, there's not that many choices for five people." Dustin mused. "Either Star Trek, Star Wars, Marvel or DC."

"Hey, we could go as the Avengers, if the girls..."

"Girls, I think we have the date for the spa weekend." El interrupted Lucas before he could finish.

"Oh come on, Max already has red hair, makes for a perfect Scarlet Witch." Lucas argued.

"Then what would I be?" El asked.

"Hm, Baby Groot?" Lucas suggested.

"Right." El scoffed.

"Hmm, spending my day among thousands of nerds ogling me in a tight-fitting costume or having my body pampered by masseuses, water and anything else a spa offers." Max hummed. "Choices, choices."

"Spa!" all four girls yelled before giving a circle high five.

"Well, it was worth a try." Lucas shrugged.

"Comic-Con!" the guys yelled and gave each other a circle high five as well.

"We could go as the Guardians of the Galaxy." Dustin suggested. "Mike could be fully grown Groot, I could be Drax, Lucas could be Rocket, Will's Star Lord and Chris can be Gamora."

"Given that Gamora is a woman, we should keep thinking." Chris threw in. "Why not Justice League? I bet Mike would look great as the Jason Momoa version of Aquaman."

"Wouldn't we be missing someone?" Dustin asked. "I mean, the original Justice League was seven members."

"We would be missing a Wonder Woman and one more." Will agreed. "Why not... hey, where did the girls go?"

"Probably planning their spa weekend." Lucas shrugged, unfazed that the four women had managed to leave the kitchen without them seeing. "Will, what was your suggestion?"

"Game of Thrones." Will said. "Enough male characters to go around."

"Dibs on John Snow!" Dustin shouted. "Mike could be The Mountain."

"I'm not that tall." Mike rolled his eyes. "I could go as The Hound, though. Always wanted to wear a scar on my face."

"Lucas could be Grey Worm." Dustin grinned.

"Why?" Lucas looked at him. "Because I'm black?"

"No, because of your nice smile." Dustin laughed. "Of course because you're black. Try as you might, nobody would think of you when imagining Jaime Lannister."

"True." Lucas had to admit. "Fine, I'll be Grey Worm."

"Jaime Lannister for me then." Will lifted his hand. "Chris will go as Tyrion."

"He will?" Chris looked at his boyfriend. "Why?"

"Because for one, you're the shortest here and two, the Lannisters have no problem fucking their siblings." Will explained with a grin.

"Alright." Chris laughed. "And I admit, I'd make a lousy Cersei."

"Then it's settled." Mike said. "On Monday, we're going to get costumes and on Thursday, we're going down to San Diego."

"How are we getting there?" Lucas asked. "A plane ride would be rather expensive."

"I think we should go by car." Mike said. "It's an eight hour ride, give or take."

"We'd need two cars then, yours and Will's."

"Or, if Mike agrees to spend a bit more money, since he's the loaded one, we could rent a large van or RV." Lucas suggested.

"That's a great idea." Dustin said. "Mike, what do you say?"

"Sure, we can rent a large van." Mike nodded. "I'll check listings tonight."

"Do you think the guys even realized that we left the kitchen?" Jennifer asked, hearing the laughter coming from the other room.

"Probably not." El chuckled. "So, I called the resort and they have four open slots for us. It'll be a single room though."

"Good to know, I thought it would be more booked." Stacy nodded.

"I think that's because of the gold package that Mike bought." Max suggested. "I checked their website and that thing costs quite a sum of money."

"Damn, El, you got so lucky with him." Jennifer gushed.

"Oh, I know." El grinned. "Though I really don't care about the money."

"Has its perks, though." Stacy winked. "But there's one really important factor we need to think about when we go on that weekend while the guys go to San Diego."

"Which is?" El asked.

"What about her?" Stacy pointed to Bella, who was lounging on her doughnut cushion.

"Oh, crap!" El gasped.

"Shit, I'm horrible, I completely forgot about her." Jennifer admitted.

"Maybe my dad can take her for the weekend." El wondered. "Or we could call and ask if we can bring a dog, though I doubt that."

"Better call your dad, I doubt that resort takes dogs." Stacy said.

"Hey dad." El spoke into her phone after her dad had accepted the call.

"Hey, sweetie." Jim's voice came through the speaker. "How's my favorite daughters?"

"Aren't I your only daughter?" El giggled. "Listen, any chance you can take Bella for next weekend?"

"Sure, why?"

"The guys are going to Comic-Con and on the same weekend, me and the girls are going to a spa resort." El explained. "So, there's nobody here who could watch Bella."

"Sure, I can do that." Jim said. "Would it be okay if I crashed at your house? It's better than having her in my small apartment."

"Sure, no problem." El told him.

"Listen honey, I'd love to talk but I'm actually at the mayor's office right now."

"Oh, alright. Love you dad."

"Love you too, sweetie." Jim smiled into the phone. "Give my best to Mike."

"Will do, thanks dad." El replied and ended the call.

"Girls, when did you leave?" Mike asked as the guys exited the kitchen.

"When you began talking about superhero costumes." El giggled as he bent down to give her a kiss on the cheek. "By the way, I called my dad, he'll come here to watch Bella when we're all gone."

"Oh shit, I totally forgot about her." Mike gasped and looked at their dog, who looked back at him and gave a huffy bark. "Sorry, girl."

"So, you guys made a decision?" Stacy asked.

"Yeah, Game of Thrones characters." Will nodded.

"Oh man, I'd come with you for that." Max whined. "I'd make a great Ygritte."

"Too bad, the weekend is booked." El laughed.

Still laughing, the group sat down together, each group talking about their plans for their upcoming weekends.

* * *

**Gotta stop the chapter here, need to go to work and I won't have any time to write over Easter.**

**Review please :)**


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